Face to Face with History
by beautifulpreservation
Summary: When you work at a historic site, it is a rare occurrence to meet who ever lived at the site. But, that exact scenario is coming true for Mina. *starts post-Avengers/pre-Winter Soldier*
1. Chapter 1

"I just don't understand why we have to do all this additional stuff." Louise says with a flourish of her hands. The short lady, most likely in her late sixties, stands up from the table while rolling her eyes at her co-workers. The co-workers in question remain seated, taking the verbal berating from Louise. They were used to it at this point, the two of them had recently been hired and ever since their first day Louise, whose job title they still weren't sure of, had been less than thrilled with their presence. "If people aren't coming here then they obviously don't want to and why would we want to attract people who don't want to be here?"

"Because, if we don't attract new visitors, then the site won't survive." Wilhelmina Violette Descoteaux (but she preferred Mina) recites for what felt like the hundredth time. The older woman scoffs at the notion. "It's notoriety alone won't help it survive. Plus, with the events that took place last year here— "

"This is the childhood home of _Steve Rogers._ " Louise says. She pauses, as if that statement alone was going to convince Anna, the other half of the duo Louise was all but yelling at, and Mina. When they continue to just stare at her, she continues with the same tired, argument. "No one in their right mind would shut down- "

"This isn't our decision Louise." Anna finally cuts the woman off. Mina had noted in the few months that they had worked together that Anna had a shorter tolerance than she had. Anna was much quicker to shut Louise down than Mina was. Louise starts to say something but Anna continues. "The board of directors hired Mina and I to do a job: help bring in a larger audience. We both went to school for this, we know how to do this. And, we are doing all of this for the benefit of the site."

"We aren't pulling down the integrity of the site or the character of Steve Rogers." Mina adds. She was the historian of the two, Anna was the marketing and public relations person. "Everything we are proposing is only furthering the mission statement of the site…which I'm under the impression you helped write?"

Mina arches an eyebrow at the older woman as Anna does the same. Some words are muttered under Louise's breath as she grabs the proposed strategic plan and exits the room. Mina and Anna both let out exaggerated sighs, sinking down in their chairs once the door is shut. "Only three years, only three years…" Anna mutters as she rubs at her temples.

To Anna, this job was just temporary, a stepping stone to bigger and better things. For Mina, she wasn't sure what being the Curator of Education at the Steve Rogers Childhood Home Historic Site was to her. She would like to think it was just temporary, however she also knew that if she ended up falling in love with the site and her work it would be hard to leave. When she applied, the board practically begged her to accept the job. It turns out, not many people wanted to work at a small apartment in Brooklyn. Mina suspected though it had a lot to do with Louise. "Or, she may leave before your three-year deadline." Mina muses as she stands, gathering her own things.

"No, she's immortal." Anna says with a shake of her head. The seriousness in her tone makes Mina laugh, but she continues. "She's like…isn't that Thor guy immortal? She's probably from wherever he is from. She'll be here forever—I'm telling you…"

"Regardless, you won't be." Mina says, shouldering her worn leather messenger bag. "In three years' time, you'll be a P.R. big shot for…oh, I don't know…some big-shot company. Not stuck here in Brooklyn, trying to get parents to bring their children to 'Decorate Your Own Shield Day'."

"Hey now— "Anna says, lightly tapping Mina's shoulder. "'Decorate Your Own Shield Day' is a really cool idea…I wanna make my own shield."

Mina smiles tightly at Anna as they exit the small conference room. The headquarters for the staff of the site was actually a few doors down from the site. The space consisted of offices for Mina, Anna, and Louise, a small conference room, and a break room. It was small, but it worked well enough for Mina and Anna…Louise complained about that as well. They each stop in their own office, Louise either gone for the day or shut up in her own office, before heading to the exit together. "How about when that event rolls around we'll just spend a day making prototypes to show the kids?"

"Now that is what I'm talking about. Oh, hey, I just realized you didn't complain about getting to work this morning. Finally figure out the subway?" Anna says. Mina rolls her eyes as the two start down the stairs. Anna, being a native New Yorker born and raised in Hell's Kitchen, found it extremely entertaining listening to Mina, born and raised in St. Louis, complain about adjusting to the city. She tells her that she has finally figured out the subway. "Good…because I mean honestly, it's not like you have that far to go anyway. You were lucky enough to find a place to live her in Brooklyn…a decent place as well."

"That is true. Thank god for Molly's real estate parents." Mina's roommate, Molly, was a friend from college. Both women had gotten jobs in New York City, though Molly was working at the Museum of Modern Art. When they were looking for places to live in the city, Molly's parents had used their real estate clout and found them a two-bedroom apartment on Montrose Ave in Brooklyn. The place was nearly halfway between both Mina and Molly's workplaces; it couldn't have been more perfect. Once Anna and Molly are outside, the two of them bid each other goodbye before heading off in opposite directions. After the near forty-minute commute (Mina had at first balked at the time for the commute when she first started, but now didn't mind it), she finally reaches home. Molly had arrived before her, like always, and had also started dinner. "I thought it was my night to make dinner?" Mina inquires as she stands in the entryway to the kitchen.

Molly forcefully chops at a head of broccoli, furrowing her brow. Instantly Mina understands the change in schedule. Molly was an "anger-cooker" as she referred to herself; when she was angry, she liked to cook her frustrations out. "This…fuddy-duddy old…bat, yeah, she's an old bat— "The red head starts ripping the florets away from the main stalk of the broccoli. "This old bat had the nerve to yell at me about a _semi-nude_ painting that was hung the other day! She yelled at me, because I just happened to be standing there, because she said it isn't appropriate for children. You can only see one nipple for cryin' out loud!"

Mina presses her fingers to her lips to hold back her laughter. She felt bad and was also annoyed at what had happened to her friend, but she always found Molly comical when she got angry about this sort of thing. Ever since the new Disney princess movie came out, Mina swore up and down that Molly resembled Merida; Molly denied the resemblance except when little girls would ask her if she was the Disney princess. So, to see the red head angrily breaking apart broccoli always made Mina laugh. "Nipples can be quite scandalous, you know."

"It was like half a nipple…if that!" she exclaims as she all but throws the broccoli onto a tinfoil lined pan. Molly waves a hand in the air, trying to calm herself down. "Anyway…after that it just seemed like everyone had something to gripe at me about. So, you are getting salmon with broccoli and rice tonight."

"Well, I'm sorry that you had a bad day…but I'm not going to complain about the dinner choice." Mina says. With a wave of her fingers she leaves the kitchen to head to her bedroom. After putting her bags in their rightful place and changing out of her work clothes, she heads out to the living room to turn on the news. Before she can turn on the local news channel though, her cell phone rings out through the apartment from where she had left it in her bedroom. She barely makes it to the phone in time.

"Mina," the booming voice of Derek Overland, president of the board of directors at her site, greets her after she answers. "I hope I'm not disturbing your evening?"

"Oh, no Mr. Overland," she says, trying not to sound breathless after sprinting to the phone. "Not at all. Just got home as a matter of fact."

"Working late, huh? Louise mentioned that once." Mina knew Derek most likely meant that Louise complained about it once…but she bites her tongue. "Anyway, I don't want to take up too much of your evening so I am going to get right to the point. You heard that the Smithsonian is doing an exhibit on Captain Rogers?" Mina tells him that she had, but leaves out the part that she was already looking at ticket prices to go see it. "Well, I have set up a meeting for you to go talk with their head researcher on the project. Swap information with them, see if they can't learn from us and us learn from them. Maybe even set up some sort of cross promotional deal?"

"Oh, wow." Mina says. She sits down in the chair to her desk. That was a tall order that he was asking of her. "That sounds…that sounds like a wonderful opportunity— "

"Don't thank me yet, because I'm about to sweeten the deal." He cuts her off. Mina's eyebrows furrow together, wondering what he meant. She already figured he would be financing this trip. Overland was one of her biggest supporters, one of the loudest voices in supporting hiring her. When she was debating on whether to take the job of not, he added a relocation incentive to get her from St. Louis to New York. "You already know this but my dad was military man…was actually saved by Captain Rogers once." It was true, Mina had heard this story at least a million and one times. "Anyways, he went on to work for the S.S.R and then S.H.I.E.L.D. So, I pulled some strings, called up a few of my dad's old friends and I got you an interview Captain Rogers himself."

A pause settles between the two; the news doesn't register in Mina's mind at first. "I'm sorry…wait, what?" Slowly the revelation was sinking in. "I'm—I'm meeting…Steve Rogers—Captain America…I'm meeting— "

"Yes, you are!" Overland was as excited as Mina should have been, but she was still in too much shock. "Unfortunately, I won't be able to join you…have some investors coming in from Spain that day…but I am confident that you will represent the site and our organization well."

"Mr. Overland…wow, I don't-wow." Finally, the shock wears off and Mina can form coherent sentences. "Thank you, sir, this will be…this will be amazing for the site." The two go over her travel information, Overland had booked for her to leave on Tuesday, the next day, in the evening and return at the end of the week. Once all the details had been settled Mina ends the phone call, setting her phone back down in its charging spot.

When she walks back into the kitchen, Molly gives her a mildly beset stare. "You look like you've seen a ghost…what was that call about?"

Mina almost numbly sits down at the small dining table and chairs they had in the kitchen, acting as their dining room. She looks up at her friend, who had turned to watch her. Mina was pretty good about keeping her wits, she got easily excited or shocked by things but she was good about keeping a neutral demeanor. Seeing her friend in an almost zombie like state had Molly worried. "I, um…" Mina finally says. "I'm meeting Captain America— "


	2. Chapter 2

By 8:00 am on Thursday, Mina had downed no less than four cups of coffee. To be honest it may have been more, she was refilling the cup before it got completely empty. It was nothing for her to have at least a cup and a half done by that time on a normal day, but today was not a normal day. Today she was meeting Steve Rogers. The goal of the meeting was basically to make sure they were interpreting his childhood home correctly. Exhaustive research had been done over the years (a majority of it by Mina since her arrival, but she would never vocalize that opinion) to ensure accuracy, but Steve Rogers himself had never visited or commented on the site since his emergence from the ice. She had put in a couple different requests to S.H.I.E.L.D. to speak with him or have him visit the site, but was always rejected with the reasoning that Captain Rogers was out of the country or to just too busy with work. In all honesty, she wasn't even sure he knew the site existed. The meeting was scheduled for ten that morning at the Triskelion. Since it was S.H.I.E.L.D. though, and Mina was a civilian interviewing possibly the top agent in the organization, she was required to arrive an hour early to go through security.

After an exhaustive security and background clearance (the worst thing Mina had on her background though was a car wreck when she was in high school that wasn't even her fault), she is finally shown to a room. The far wall of the room is a solid window, overlooking the Potomac River and the rest of D.C. The rest of the room is solely taken up by a massive conference table. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Mina sets to work setting up her presentation. The goal was to show Steve Rogers what the site was doing, how it was currently operating. She then wanted to tell him about the plans and the new direction that the site wanted to take. Photos of the exhibits in the apartment, exhibits that had been set up in other rooms on the same floor of the apartment, and mock-up flyers for events they hoped to present were laid out on the table; copies of the strategic plan, mission statement, and tour script were also laid out, awaiting his arrival.

At about five minutes past the time the meeting was supposed to start, the door finally opens. Steve Rogers steps into the doorway, blue eyes scanning the room until they finally land on Mina. The woman's mouth dries when she sees him. In her research, she had read accounts from others and even seen the medical records about how the serum had changed him, but seeing him with her own eyes was different. Steve Rogers was a _big_ guy; he literally looked like a mass of solid muscle. The fabric of his light blue shirt, long sleeves rolled up to the elbows, seemed to strain around his biceps. After the briefest of moments, not enough for him to think her totally crazy, Mina shakes her head. "Captain Rogers— "she glides forward, extending a hand towards him. The door shuts on its own behind Steve as he steps towards her, meeting her half way. "I'm Mina Descoteaux, Curator of Education at the Steve—well, your childhood home." Steve stares at her for a moment until his manners prompt him to reach out and shake her hand. "The staff, board or directors, and the site are thrilled that you agreed to meet today."

Steve stares at her for moment, as if unsure what to say. "Um, yes—I had heard about the site a while back…I was curious, to say the least."

Mina lets out a quiet chuckle as their hands fall back to their sides. "I bet so…not every day that the place you grow up in becomes a national landmark." Steve just nods his head. From the way he was standing to the set of his jaw, Mina could tell that Steve was uncomfortable. It made sense that he would be. "Look, Captain Rogers…I know that the president of our board, Derek Overland, called in some favors or something to the effect…but if this is making you uncomfortable or you don't want to do this, we don't have to." The last thing she wanted to do was to uncomfortably suffer through this meeting.

"Oh, no ma'am, I— "Steve lets out a sigh, his eyes cutting away from her for a moment. "You're right, I am slightly uncomfortable. But not to the point that I don't want to be here. As you said…it's not every day that your childhood home is deemed a historic landmark." The thought of his childhood home being anything but that made Steve nervous. Tony Stark had tried to tell him about the place once, but he didn't want to hear it. In his mind, in a childlike manner, he felt that if he didn't hear about it or see it, that it wouldn't be true. Now, though, over a year removed from coming out of the ice, he was finally ready to face it. "I'm just nervous, is all."

Mina stares at him a moment longer before smiling kindly at him. "Okay, then…let me show you what the museum is doing right now." The two of them move over to the table as Mina begins to take him through each picture, explaining the interpretation of the site. Steve's face remains passive, only the tiniest flicker of emotion running though his eyes when looking at certain pictures. His head nods every now and then, agreeing with something Mina had said. Only once does he point out an inaccuracy in an artifact. Mina smiles smugly to herself, the artifact in question had been an ongoing debate between her and Louise for quite some time now; Mina would be more than happy to let the older woman know that the artifact did not belong in the apartment. "So, that is what the site had been doing since it became a museum in 1995. Of course, over the past year there has been some changes to the script to include you being found and well…saving New York." A corner of Steve's mouth quirks up in what Mina assumes is supposed to be a grin. "Despite that though…visitor numbers have been steadily declining. There was a small uptick right after it was announced you were found and another after the Battle of New York. The museum is a non-profit organization, we don't have any kind of government backing to keep us afloat. We rely solely on this visitorship to keep us going."

Steve's brows furrow together as he looks up from the picture of his former bedroom. "Are you all trying to do anything to change that?" As much as the idea of his childhood home being a museum weirded him out, Steve didn't want to see the organization fail.

"We are." The smile on Mina's face grows wider. This was the area she was most comfortable in, the sole reason she was hired. "I was hired as the curator of education and another woman, Anna, was hired for marketing and P.R. Together, we are trying to reach out to a new audience that is largely ignored by museums and historic sites: children." Steve gives her a questioning look. To him it seemed like children were usually the prime audience for museums. "And I'm not talking about field trip visits with schools; funding for those types of trips are being dramatically slashed anyway and it's getting harder and harder for teachers to justify the trips. Our goal is to get children in the door with their parents hitting two large age groups in one fell swoop." The next half hour is spent with Mina going over all the programming her and Anna had come up with, the overhaul of the education program, and plans for future exhibits. "We can't just tell your history…we have to be able to relate it to some message that will resonate with people today."

As she had explained their plans, Steve grew more and more comfortable with Mina. If he had to pick someone to tell the story of his childhood home, it would be her. The passion she had for the field was evident, but he truly appreciated how she didn't gloss over the unpleasant parts of his childhood. Being the son of Irish immigrants was a hard road to walk, especially after his father died. "How are you planning on doing that?"

"By using the message that anyone can make a difference." Mina explains. It was something that her and Anna were pushing hard, almost a moral to the Steve Rogers story. "That if a scrawny kid from Brooklyn can become Captain America…anyone can do anything they set their mind to."

Steve stares at her for a moment before a smile finally spreads across his face. "I like it." As he nods his head, pride swells up in Mina's chest. This was the validation she had been hoping to get from him. "I like it a lot."

"Good," Mina playfully reaches up, acting like she was wiping sweat off her brow. Steve would never know how nervous she was to speak with him and hearing him say that he liked what she had been working so hard at was a weight off her shoulders. "I'm really glad to hear you say that Captain Rogers-"

"Please, call me Steve." He says. "It seems only fair since you seem to know my history so well."

"Okay, then, Steve…" Mina muses, letting his name hang in the air between them for a moment. "I am glad to hear you say that. It would have been super awkward to go back to the board and tell them you hated everything we were doing."

Steve's head tilts from side to side. "I'm still not one hundred percent comfortable with my former home being a museum." He admits, tapping at one of the photos on the table. "But I like how you're tying it in with others things: immigration, the health care struggles we faced…even the whole tying it into a larger message that anyone can be a hero in their own way. That's the stuff I can get behind."

"History can't be stagnant." Mina explains. It was a notion one of her professors had taught her on her first day of graduate school. "You have to be to learn from it. Have to be able to make it relevant to today."

"Geeze." Steve shrugs one of his shoulder, chuckling lightly. "Back when I was in school, history was just memorizing dates."

Mina nods her head. As a historian, she knew how history had been taught in the past. "We've come a long way since then…still got a ways to go though."

"Seems to be that way in a lot of things." Steve mutters so quietly Mina wasn't sure that she heard him right.

A silence settles between the two as Steve turns his attention back to the photos on the table. Mina had said everything she had planned on to him. She asked him if he had any further questions, but she shakes his head. Glancing a peek at her watch, she sees that it is almost noon. "Well, it seems that I have taken up your whole morning." At the observation, Steve glances at his own watch. "I'm sorry for keeping you so long— "

"No, it's alright." Steve says, waving a dismissive hand at the apology. He was actually surprised they had not been interrupted. "I have the day free, so I had the time to spare." Mina nods her head, glad she had disrupted any plans. As she starts to gather up her materials, Steve steps back and stands there semi-awkwardly. "So, are you, um, heading back to New York today?"

"Saturday," Mina answers, glancing back at him. "I have a meeting this afternoon and then I get tomorrow to do some sight-seeing. I've never actually been to D.C…so I've got a nice list of places I want to see before I head back." Derek had made sure to give her an extra day in the city just so she could do some sight-seeing. That afternoon she had to meet with the Smithsonian again, but other than that her time was her own.

Steve just nods his head as she places her materials into her bag. "What are some of the places you are going to visit?" Steve had his own list, or a few lists rather, but never seemed to have the time to cross items off. Fury had kept him busy since the incident in New York.

"Oh, the usual tourist traps: Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, the White House. I've been to the Smithsonian a couple times this week but haven't actually looked around so I may do that today. What about you?" She turns back to look at Steve, who was giving her a questioning look. "You live in D.C., right? Any suggestions?"

"Oh—um…" The question had caught him off guard. No one ever came to him for advice on this sort of stuff. He was unable to tell if she meant the question sincerely or had asked it without thinking, just making polite conversation. As she continues to look at him, waiting for an answer, he considers the former to be more true. "I, um, I haven't actually had the chance to do much sight-seeing. Work and such keeping me busy…"

A dumbfounded look crosses Mina's face. The idea that he hadn't been to these places perplexed her. She could understand being busy and working non-stop, family and friends could testify to her being guilty of this, but, with him in particular, she figured that these sorts of trips would be a given for him. "Really?" she questions. Steve just shakes his head, reaffirming his statement. "Huh, well…" shrugging a shoulder, she next sentence is out of her mouth before she can stop herself. "If you have tomorrow off as well, you're welcome to join me— "Mina stops herself finally. The blonde was staring at her with a blank look tinged with surprise. "I am—I'm very sorry, that was very forward of me…I'm from the Midwest…we're a very open people—inviting strangers into our home, that sort of thing— "

"It's alright," Steve raises a hand to stop her rambling. It was true that the invitation caught him off guard; he had just met this woman a few hours ago, and here she was inviting him to spend a whole day with her. He smiles at her, reassuring her that he didn't think negatively of the invitation. "I actually have work to do tomorrow…but thank you."

Mina chuckles nervously as she nods her head. Without even seeing herself in a mirror she could tell that her cheeks were most likely burning bright pink. She sweeps the chunk of her long brunette hair that had fallen forward behind her shoulder. "Of course you do. Again, I am very sorry for— "

"You don't have to apologize." Steve stops her again. Mina ducks her chin, looking away from him. He could easily tell that she was embarrassed by herself. "No one has…" Steve clears his throat, sliding a hand into the front pocket of his jeans. "No one has ever actually offered to take me to those places. People just usually tell me where I should visit. So…thank you."

"Oh." Mina blinks at him a couple of times. The thought hadn't ever occurred to her that that would have been the case. As she had stated, growing up in the Midwest she was almost smothered by strangers doing random acts of kindness or not thinking twice about someone her parents had just met joining them for dinner. "Well, um…here— "After digging in her bag for a moment, she produces her wallet from where she pulls out one of her business cards. Steve takes it, noting her title at the site, a phone number, and her email address. "If you ever make it down to New York and feel up to it, we'd love to have you at the site. I'd offer to take you around New York as well…but you probably know it better than I do. E-mail is actually the best way to get ahold of me; that's my office number but I'm hardly ever in there."

He looks at the card a moment longer before producing his own wallet and placing the card in there. "Thank you, Ms. Descoteaux, — "

"Please, call me Mina…" Steve calling her by the formal title just felt odd to her. Most members of the board called her that, but everyone else (save for her family) called her Mina.

"Mina…" He response with a smile, testing the name out. Mina ignores the fluttering in her stomach at the sound of her name on his lips. "Thank you, again, Mina. I will keep that in mind."

The woman nods her head as they both start for the door. When they reach it, they say their goodbyes and head in opposite directions. In the confines of the rental car, Mina lets out a heavy sigh. Steve was a nice enough guy, but she felt as if she had made a total fool of herself in front of him. He had seemed to brush it off, not mind it, but it would bother her the rest of the day. As she starts the car, her phone rings from her purse. Glancing at the screen, the smiles as she sees the name displayed on it. "Hello big brother…"

"I need details and I need them now about this meeting." David, her brother rattles off. She lets out a chuckle as her head leans back against the headrest. "Don't laugh—talk, now!"

Mina shakes her head. She had casually mentioned the meeting to her brother the night before on the phone. "I can't tell you much, because you know it was for work…" David scoffs, not buying the excuse no matter how true it was. "But I guess I can tell you some…"


	3. Chapter 3

"Well, I still say that he remembered wrong because I distinctly remember my mom talking about having one of them in the kitchen." Louise waves both her hands in the air as she stands up. Mina suppresses a groan; it had been a month since she had met with Steve Rogers and Louise was still arguing with her about the artifact that he had said did not belong in the kitchen. "He was only a child then after all—"

"You know that he lived in the apartment until he was in his twenties." Mina cuts her off, pressing her fingers to her temples. The two of them had been having this argument every week and the younger woman was getting sick of it. This time, Louise had gone so far as to actually try to sneak the artifact back into the exhibit. "If he says they did not have one…it's not going in the exhibit."

Louise lets out a snort of indignation before leaving the office, muttering under her breath. Mina folds her arms on her desk, laying her forehead on them as the door shuts. She fully understood now why it was so hard for the site to keep a staff. After a couple of semi-relaxing deep breaths, she slips her heels off and tucks one of her ankles under the other knee. There were a slew of e-mails in her inbox waiting to be looked over. Dealing with Louise had been the first item on her list for the day, now the e-mails needed to be taken care of. Most of them were requests to hold birthday parties for younger children (which Louise thought was undignified for the site but Anna loved), some questions about upcoming programming, and one from a contact she had not expected to hear from. Steve Rogers had e-mailed her the night before requesting to visit the site. Hitting reply, she tells him that he was more than welcome to visit and told him the hours of operation. Within just a few minutes of sending, a reply is sent back to her, asking if she was free to talk on the phone. One of Mina's eyebrows arch as she responds that she was. A couple minutes later, her office phone rings. Even though she knew who it was, she still answers with her standard greeting of her name and a hello.

"Hi, it's Steve…Rogers." Steve greets her in return. The two of them exchange the typical pleasantries, asking how the other one was.

"I have to admit, I was surprised to see your e-mail." Mina says, leaning back in her chair. "As I said though, you are more than welcome to come by. I assume you're in the city, so if you have time today we're usually pretty slow on Wednesdays."

"About that…" Steve says. There was some hesitance in his voice, as if he was nervous to say what he was getting ready to say. "I was wondering if there was any way I could come by and see it outside of normal hours? I just...I don't mean to be difficult—"

"Oh, no, you're not being difficult at all." Mina had had the sneaking suspicion that this would have been the case and she should have expected it. It made sense, if he was coming to see his former childhood home then doing it with a group of tourist from Iowa was less than ideal. "I completely understand."

"Okay, thank you." He sounded relieved, like a worry had been lifted off of him. He tells Mina that he was in the city for the next couple of days before the two of them decide on him coming by later that day, after the museum was officially closed. "Thank you…again. I hate to ask for another favor…but do you think we could keep this visit just between the two of us?"

"Of course." Mina nods her head, even though he couldn't see it. She chuckles to herself as a thought occurs to her. The thought of him meeting Louise made her laugh and shudder at the same time. "My office is actually down the street from the site. So, I can either meet you there or at the site?"

"Whichever is easiest for you." Steve tells her. Mina thinks it over for a moment before deciding to meet him at the office. It seemed like the best option to her instead of letting him hang around outside his childhood home. That may draw unwanted attention. "That sounds good to me. Thank you, again, for this."

"You're very welcome." She tells him. They confirm times and the address one more time before ending the call. Once Mina has the phone back on the receiver, she leans back in her chair. Holy cow…Steve Rogers was actually coming to visit the site. This was huge…and she couldn't tell anyone about it. She understood his unspoken reasoning for wanting to keep his visit quiet and she would respect that. Still, the thought of the publicity it could generate if he came out with a public endorsement of the site…maybe that would happen in the future. Today though, was just about reacquainting him with a place from his past. Pushing herself back from her desk, Mina slips her shoes back on before exiting her office and heading to Anna's. "Hey…we need to talk." She says in a low voice as she enters the woman's office.

"Give me one sec…" Anna points a finger to the ceiling for a moment as she stares intently at her computer screen. As Mina slips into one of the bright yellow plastic chairs Anna had brought in to decorate her office, Anna finally turns her attention to the woman sitting across from her. "Okay, what's up?"

"Okay…so…this is going to sound totally crazy." Mina says, choosing her words carefully. "I need to tell you about something, but I can't tell you anything about it…know what I mean?"

Anna's eyes go wide as she leans across the desk slightly. "Is the old bat finally getting the boot?" she whispers with a new found excitement in her voice.

"No!" Mina waves a dismissive hand, expelling the notion. She refrains from rolling her eyes as Anna pouts a lip out and leans back in her chair. "No…I just…I just want to give you a heads up so that if you get calls about something then you can deflect accordingly." Anna arches a perfectly sculpted eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest. "There is someone, I can't tell you who because they request anonymity, that is coming to tour the site after hours today. If someone were to spot them and you were to get a call about it…you have to deny it. Understand?"

"Okay, so let me get this straight—" Anna picks up a pen, starting to twirl it between her long fingers. It was a habit she did when she was deep in thought or really considering something. "A mystery person is touring the site this evening. This person does not want it known that he or she is visiting. So, if someone sees them there and we are asked about it…it never happened?" Mina nods her head. "And you can't tell me who this mystery person is?" Again, Mina nods her head. On the off chance that Steve and her are spotted and Anna was contacted about it, Mina didn't want her to be blindsided by it. "And here I thought this job wasn't going to be interesting…alright, if anyone calls 'we know nothing' and 'no visited after hours without staff knowledge'."

"Thank you Anna." Mina stands from the chair, giving her co-worker a grateful smile. The woman returns the smile as she nods her head. "I guess this goes without saying…but don't tell Louise either…"

* * *

Steve checks his phone once again for the office number to make sure that he had arrived at the correct door. As he pushes the door open, a quiet bell rings overhead, alerting to whoever was inside the office that someone had entered. He looks around briefly, finding the room empty. There was desk, littered with figurines of cats to the right of the doorway, but it appeared that it's owner was gone for the day. Other doorways in the room were shut, giving the office a deserted feel. For a second, Steve is afraid that he had the wrong place. Out of his peripheral, he sees a head pop out of a doorway across the open room. "Sorry we're—oh, I should've known it was you." Mina walks out of the doorway towards him, wearing a wide smile. That was the first thing Steve had noticed about the brunette woman, she smiled a lot. They weren't always the same, they varied. Sometimes it'd be the toothy grin as she was sporting now, a small smirk, or even just a tight smile that made the corners of her eyes crinkle. Steve gives her a small wave as she continues towards him, pushing the sleeves of her navy sweater up to her elbows. "Glad you found the place. I've requested the board for funds to put a sign on our door or something…we get confused for the divorce lawyers a floor up. Makes for some interesting visitors sometimes though."

"I can imagine." Steve slides his hands in his pockets, rocking back on his heels for a moment. "Thank you, again, for doing this—"

Both of her hands wave dismissively at him; if she was tired of hearing his gratitude it didn't show. "As I said, it is not a problem. I do have to confess though—" One of her hands comes up, pointing to a doorway off to her right. "I did tell our P.R. person, Anna, about this." Steve freezes for a moment, but doesn't have a chance to react before she continues. "I didn't tell her who it was that I was taking over there…just told her that this was happening, just in case we were spotted, that way she wouldn't be blindsided."

"Oh, okay." He relaxes, hearing her full explanation. It made sense and actually made him feel even better about it. "That's fine…I didn't even think about that."

Mina shrugs a shoulder, smirking slightly. "That's why I'm paid the not-so-big-bucks." She chuckles a little, an infectious sound that Steve mimics. "Let me get my coat and bag…then we'll head over." Steve nods his head before she re-enters her office, coming back out a moment later with her coat and a black purse. The walk over to the site is quiet, Steve keeping his head down so that the brim of his ballcap could cover his face more. As much as he could, he did look around his old neighborhood. Memories flood him, tightening the knot he felt in his stomach. Mina remained silent, just a slight point of her finger once they reached the apartment building. As they make the three floor walk up, the knot in Steve's stomach tightens even more. It was the first time in a long time, since Bucky had died most likely, that he truly felt sick to his stomach. Once they reach the door, Steve pauses as Mina pulls out her keys, looking for the correct one. "Here," she holds the key towards him, the rest dangling on the key ring. He tilts his head to the side in question for a moment until he realizes what she meant. She was allowing him to enter first, on his own. "I'll wait out here, until you're ready."

Steve nods his head, taking the key from her. Letting out a shaky breath, he turns with the key in hand, inserting it into the lock. As he steps over the threshold, conflicting emotions flood over him. It felt like home…but not really. Thorough research had been done, most of the furnishings in the room almost identical to what he and his mom had had. Yet, at the same time, it was obvious that this was an exhibit space, with ribbon and signs to dissuade visitors from touching or sitting on furniture littering the room. Steve moves through the apartment, taking his time in each room. Memories, some he had long forgot, start to pop up in various rooms. It was odd, being there, but he was glad he had decided to come. After about half an hour of walking through on his own, he goes back to the front door, stepping halfway out to let Mina know he was done. He pauses though, spotting her sitting on the stairs that led up a floor, reading a novel. As if sensing his presence, she looks up at him. Without either of them saying a word, she slides a bookmark (that looked to be an old receipt) into the book and stands up.

"Do you have any questions about anything?" Mina asks quietly, shutting the door behind her after she had entered the apartment. She undoes the buttons on her long, light blue coat as she sits her purse down by the door. She was speaking softly, as if she could tell Steve's emotions were on edge. "As I told you in D.C…we tried to match everything as closely as possible. Louise has been fighting me tooth and nail about that one artifact you told me was wrong, though."

The blonde man chuckles lightly. "Not that big of a deal…but if you're going for accuracy…" His head cants to the side, letting the thought hang. They stand there for a few moments, both looking around the room. "This is…this is great. Thank you."

Mina nods her head. "Up until I got here…I gotta admit, the place was kind of creepy. There were these velvet ropes up, blocking people off from areas, it just felt stagnant. Like a shrine to you or something." Steve's gaze follows her as she walks further into the room, over to the low table that sat in front of the couch. Bending down, she picks up one of the books that was stacked there. That was a touch Steve liked; he always had a book laying around to read. "One of my goals, even if it's not on the strategic plan, was to make this place come alive. Almost as if you had just left for basic training." She sits the book down, back in its rightful place, and slowly walks around the room, looking around but not at Steve. "The place, much like the idea of Captain America, needed to stand for more than the face value. That is where the idea of 'anyone can make a difference' came from."

"All that from my old third floor walk-up," Steve says with a single shake of his head. He couldn't admit to seeing what she saw, but he appreciated it.

"No, all that from you." Steve's head turns quickly to look over at Mina. She was standing by the entrance to the kitchen now, her hands buried in her coat pockets. "Like most kids…stories about you were a holiday staple from my grandparents. My grandfather, Thomas, was in the 107th…met you once. He always stressed that yes, you were a super-soldier, but underneath that you were a good man and that was what made you Captain America, what made men follow you…trust you. That is the message we should convey here."

Steve stares at her, for probably too long. The knot that had been in his stomach had unraveled, leaving him with a now peaceful feeling. He doesn't say anything at first, just nods his head and turns to look at the room again. "I was…apprehensive about coming here; didn't know how it would feel. But, I'm glad I did." He looks back at her again. The corner of her mouth that had been turned down, as if nervous about what he was going to say, quirks up into a smirk. "The place is obviously in good hands." Mina thanks him, nodding her head once. She walks back over to him, taking the keys she had given him earlier back. Steve leaves the apartment first, looking into it one last time over her head as she shuts the door and locks it. The pair start down the stairs, Mina locking at gate at the top of the stairs before their descent. When they reach the bottom of the stairs, they both pause. Steve knew they were most likely heading in different directions. "Thank you again. I hope I didn't disrupt your evening too much."

"Oh, no." Mina says, waving a hand in the air. "I have this bad habit of working late sometimes…getting lost in research or whatever. So, this wasn't a change in routine for me or anything."

"I can see that…" Steve says. Mina raises an eyebrow at him in question. "You are very passionate about your work…it shows."

She cants her head to the side, playfully pursing her lips together. "Did you just call me a workaholic?"

"Well, you said it…not me." Steve shrugs, earning a dropped jaw and a disbelieving scoff from Mina. Slipping into a playful banter with her was easy. After just the couple of times they had met, Steve felt comfortable with her. There weren't many people he could say that about. "Would you, um—would you maybe want to grab a bite to eat?" Contrary to what people, mainly Tony, thought, Steve was more confident around women than what he had been in his youth. At Natasha's insistence (her setting him up on blind dates) he had been on a couple dates in the past year. He wasn't sure if him and Mina getting a last minute dinner together would qualify as a date, but he just knew he wasn't ready to say goodbye to her yet. Her eyes widen a fraction for a second. That was not a question that she had been expecting. For a moment, Steve is afraid that he over stepped a boundary; he knew nothing of her personal life save for the fact that she wore no ring on _that_ finger but there could be a significant other in the picture. "As a, um— you know, a thank you, for doing this for me…"

Finally, after a few long seconds, she nods her head and smiles. "Yeah, that would be nice." The tension that had been increasing in Steve's shoulders finally releases. Pulling out her cell phone, she tells him that she needs to let her roommate know and then she'd be ready to go. Steve waits patiently, watching the minute expression of concentration that crossed her face as she sent the text. After a moment, she looks back up at him, smiling the wide toothy grin, pocketing her phone. With a tilt of his head, they start down the sidewalk debating on where to eat.


	4. Chapter 4

The pair eventually decided on a small family-owned restaurant about a block away from the museum. Scanning the menu in her hand, Mina noted that they had all the traditional foods, various burgers and sides to accompany them, along with a few items that seemed as if they had been thrown in to try and attract a wider crowd. The waitress comes by after a few moments of them looking at the menu, taking their orders before disappearing again. Mina and Steve were seated towards the back of the restaurant; the super soldier seemed to visibly relax when he realized they weren't being seated so close to everyone else. Steve ticks his head to the side before glancing around the restaurant, half surveying the area and half out of curiosity. "I sure did like coming here as a kid…" Mina's mouth drops open for a moment, not sure how to respond. He watches her for a few moments, her grey-blue scanning his face, not sure what to say. Finally, he cracks a smile and chuckles. "I'm just joking…this place wasn't open when I was a kid."

After a beat, Mina's jaw drops. Before Steve can even react, she takes the balled up straw wrapper she had been rolling between her fingers and flicks it at him. "Haha…very funny." She says as the paper bounces off his chest. Steve picks the paper from where it had landed on the floor as Mina's eyes narrow at him for a second. One of her hands flit through the air, dismissing the joke. "I've actually been meaning to eat here for a while. I pass it every day on my way to the train station."

"Do you live in the city?" Steve asks. He knew it was common now for people to live out in the suburbs and commute in.

"Yeah, here in Brooklyn actually." Steve's head angles to the side slightly. Out of curiosity he had looked at places to live in Brooklyn. The prices were unreasonable in his opinion and seemed unattainable for a young person living on their own. "I know." Mina says, noting the surprise on his face. "My roommate, Molly, and I got really lucky. Good timing and her parents are both realtors where she's from…so they knew where to look and all that."

Steve nods his head, taking a sip of his water as Mina does the same. "You mentioned back in D.C. that you're from the Midwest?" The two fall into easy conversation. It was largely one-sided, Steve asking Mina various questions, since Mina already knew quite a bit about Steve's past. Mina had plenty of questions that she wanted to ask him. Yet, she didn't want Steve to think she was solely asking because of her work.

Once the food is delivered to them, there is a pause in questioning from the man sitting across from her. After a couple of bites, she seizes the opportunity. "I'm curious, and you don't have to answer if you don't want…or can't—" Steve stares at her apprehensively as he chews his food. "D.C…are you there by choice or were you stationed there?"

His face relaxes almost instantaneously, replaced by mild surprise. "Um—" Steve wipes at his mouth with his napkin, thinking over his answer. "To be honest, it was a mixture of both…I guess." After the incident with the Chitauri, while most of the city was grateful to the Avengers for what they had done, it was still a somewhat hostile place for them to be. Since it had happened so soon after he had emerged from the ice, Steve had actually gone off the grid for a month and a half. When he was ready to get back to work, work for S.H.I.E.L.D, him and Fury had mutually decided that D.C. would be the best place for him.

Mina nods her head as she pops another fry into her mouth. "Do you get up here to New York often?" That question was for purely selfish reasons. It was obvious to her that she was starting to develop a small crush on Steve. However, D.C. and New York were near four hours apart; not ideal for forming any sort of relationship.

"About once a month or so." Steve answers. A small flutter in his gut told him that maybe Mina was growing as fond of him as he was of her. Sure, she was a little younger (only by three years biologically Mina had reminded him with a laugh earlier) than him, but she had a wisdom and sense of confidence that set her apart from other women he had met. Of course, he was also physically attracted to her as well. "Whenever work calls for it."

The brunette nods her head, not looking up from her plate. Her face was blank, Steve unable to read it. Finally after a few moments, a small smile breaks across her face. Conversation stalls while the two return to eating. Once the food was all gone from their plates and the waitress had bussed them away, Steve pays for the meal but neither of them make to leave. Conversation starts again, Mina inquiring if he preferred to read books or watch movies. It was a simple sort of generic question in her mind, but it got conversation flowing again; both of them admitting to preferring books, but still liking movies, especially Steve. The quality in movie production now was much better, he had admitted, seemed to more life-like. The talk between the two ebbed and flowed over a variety of topics, every now and then when something unfamiliar to Steve came up he would jot it down on a clean napkin to further investigate at Mina's insistence. Only after glancing at her watch did she realize that they had stayed almost an hour and a half after their meal was finished. At her insistence Mina had left the tip (a pretty generous too since they had taken up the table for so long) and the two of them made their way outside. "Do you have a very far walk to your train station?" Steve asks her as they both stand outside the restaurant, doing up the buttons of their coats to guard against the cold November air.

Mina shakes her head as she slips a pair of black gloves on. "It's about a block and a half that way." She answers, pointing off to her right.

He knew that she was perfectly capable of walking there by herself, but with it having gotten dark while they were eating he knew he would worry about her if she were to make the journey on her own. "Do you mind—um, if I walk with you…to there?"

"That would be fine." Mina answers, trying to keep the nervousness out of her voice. To be honest, she was glad he had asked. Even after living in the city for months, walking around it at night on her own still freaked her out. They start down the sidewalk, picking up their conversation from where they had stopped inside the restaurant. As they walked, the few people on the sidewalk paid them no mind. There was one little boy who had peeked under Steve's hat and had started frantically pointing at him, but the boy's father had pulled him along while reminding him that pointing was rude. Once they reach the entrance to the station, they both pause at the top of the stairs. "Thank you for dinner."

"You're welcome." Steve slides his hands in his coat pocket, nodding his head. "I feel like a broken record saying this, but thank you for the tour earlier."

Mina smiles a tight grin at him before it falters slightly. It hits her at that moment that she doesn't want to say goodbye yet. Steve was a great guy, potential for a great friend or more. There wasn't anything to do about it though; he most likely needed to get to wherever he was staying and she had work in the morning. Instead of conveying a farewell though, she reaches into her bag, pulling out a pen and pad of sticky notes. The super-soldier's eyebrow quirks up as he watches her scrawl something on the notepad. "Here…" she pulls the top note off, holding it out to Steve. When he takes it, he sees her name and a number written across it in a neat, small scrawl. "It's my cell number. If you make it back to the city and have some free time with nothing to do…let me know. Or ya know, if you want to compare books again or—I am going to stop now before I make a fool of myself even more."

Both of them laugh lightly but both also know what she means. Steve thanks her for the number as he slides it into his coat pocket. "I'll definitely have to check out that show you told me about…keep you updated and such." Steve wasn't ready to say goodbye yet to Mina either. He had to be realistic though; they lived four hours away from one another on top of the crazy hours and dangerous work that he did. Yet, at the same time he couldn't deny the draw he felt towards her. If nothing else, he'd at least settle for friendship. "I'll send you a message next time I'm up this way…we can grab lunch or something."

"Yeah." Mina smiles widely at him, a light flutter in her chest. "That sounds good." On a leap of faith, and trusting her gut instinct that they had reached this level in the course of their evening together, Mina holds her arms out to her side to open herself up physically towards Steve.

Pausing a moment (a moment that felt like an eternity to Mina), Steve just stares at her, taken back by the gesture. Moving purely on instinct and that fluttering feeling in his gut, he steps towards her and lightly reaches below her arms to wrap an arm around her waist. The brunette holds back a sigh of relief as she in turn wraps an arm around the tops of his wide shoulders to complete the half hug. Steve quietly takes in a deep breath, breathing in her scent that he could only describe as a mixture of vanilla and some flower. After another moment (a moment that felt so much shorter to the both of them) they simultaneously drop their arms and take a step backwards. Without another word, just a small wave of her fingers, Mina turns and starts down the stairs to catch her train to the other side of Brooklyn. Steve watches her until she disappears, turning at the bottom of the stairs. The vibrations of his phone in his coat pocket break him out of the train of thought he was following, bringing him back to reality. Letting out a half-annoyed sigh, he slides the answer button across the screen before pressing the phone to his ear. "Stark…yeah, I'm on my way…no, nothing with S.H.I.E.L.D., just met a friend for dinner…yes Tony, I have other friends than you and Romanov…"

* * *

When Mina arrives back at her apartment, Molly is on the couch, watching some documentary. "Hey…how was your date?"

Mina rolls her eyes as she shakes her head. Kicking off her heels, she sits on the opposite end of the couch. "It wasn't a date…just dinner." She hadn't told Molly who she had had dinner with. Mina hardly ever kept secrets from her friend, but since Steve had requested that she not tell anyone he was touring the museum she figured it extended to the dinner as well. "Dinner with a friend…that's all."

"A friend? Huh?" Molly reaches one of her feet over and pokes her friend's thigh. Mina swats at the foot as the two women laugh. "What other friends do you have than me?"

The brunette shakes her head as her friend laughs again. "Just a friend from D.C." The answer seems to satisfy Molly though, because the conversation is dropped. The two of them focus on the documentary Molly had been watching, something about the fast food industry. A debate sparks up between the two about the subject, Mina vowing to never give up her chicken nuggets. When that debate fades out as well, a text notification chimes on Mina's phone. It's from a number that she doesn't recognize, but luckily the person who sent it signed their name to it: _I just wanted to say that I good time this evening and text you so that you'd have my number as well. -Steve_

A small smile comes to Mina's lips as she responds to the text. _I'm glad…I had a good time too!_

Steve responds back a few minutes later. Mina rises from the couch, telling Molly that she was going to bed early. When she is finished with her night time routine in the bathroom, she shuts the door to her bed room and opens the unread message. _There is a possibility that I will be back in NYC in a couple of weeks…would you want to grab dinner again?_

A hand comes over Mina's mouth to stifle the little squeal of excitement. The reaction catches her off guard; she could tell that she was already crushing on Steve, but squealing like a schoolgirl was not a reaction she usually had when it came to guys. _Yeah, I would like that. We can set up something more concrete when you know for sure._

 _Good :) Goodnight, Mina…sleep well._ The use of the emoticon makes Mina chuckle a little. Obviously Steve had picked up on one or two things when it came to texting that she hadn't expected.

 _You too Steve, sleep well._ Once the text is sent, she turns on the do not disturb function of her phone, setting it on her desk across the room from her bed for the night. With a smile still on her face, she grabs the latest book she had recently started and crawls into bed, letting the small cream-colored lamp next to her bed illuminate the words on the pages.


	5. Chapter 5

_I'm sorry…I just spent the last three weeks holed up in a room in Zihuantanejo. I'd rather not have Mexican this evening._ Steve types out in a text to Mina. In all honesty, he was exhausted and would love nothing better than to crash in bed. However, he also really, _really_ wanted to see Mina. He tosses his duffel bag on the small bed in the temporary sleeping quarters at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters in New York, glancing at his phone to see if Mina had responded yet. Over the past four months, Steve's trip to the city had increased for the sole purpose of seeing Mina. They weren't dating (officially), but if it was more feasible, they most likely would be dating. Instead, Steve made as many trips to New York as he could, earning some judgmental side-eye from Natasha.

 _Well…it's a little different from what we usually do, but how about I cook us dinner at my place?_ Mina responds twenty minutes later. Before Steve can reply, Mina texts again. _Molly won't be home…so it would just be us._

Steve stares at his phone for a moment, debating the idea in his head. Having dinner at Mina's would a big step…but to what? Keeping on par with their first time having dinner together, neither one of them had divulged to their friends or co-workers that they were seeing each other. Molly suspected that Mina was seeing someone and Natasha, the closest person Steve considered to a friend, definitely suspected Steve was seeing some girl on his visits to New York. Taking a deep breath, Steve types his reply. Once it is sent, he opens up his duffel, hoping that the clothes he had packed for this specific evening hadn't become too wrinkled.

* * *

"Coming! Coming!" Mina yells as she skips to the door. Ever since Steve had agreed to have dinner at her apartment, she had been aggressively cleaning and readying the food she was planning on cooking. To say that she was nervous would be putting it lightly. She liked Steve…like, _really_ liked him. The past four months they had become really good friends. Not to mention the fact that every time he left her heart ached like it was going to burst out of her chest. When she arrives at the door, she takes a moment to calm herself with a deep breath before undoing the four locks on the door and opening it. She smiles brightly at Steve, who was holding a small bouquet of assorted flowers in one hand and a small brown box in the other. The two greet each other with semi-nervous smiles and quiet hellos before Mina waves Steve inside.

"I'm not much of a cook, but I did want to contribute to supper…" Steve explains as he hands Mina the flowers. She smiles, gently pressing her nose to them to take in their scent. "So, I stopped by a bakery down the block, for desert…if you don't already have anything planned."

"Oh, I didn't," Mina shakes her head before waving a hand for him to follow her. Desert has crossed her mind, but she figured she would leave it up to Steve on what he wanted. The two make their way through down the unusually long foyer, as Mina tells Steve what all she had made for dinner. "I know you said that you didn't want Mexican, so I thought I would dust off one of Mamie Ada's recipes…. _Sole Meunière_ …and of course as she would always say: _Lorsque vous servez Sole Meunière vous devez avoir une salade pour annuler le beurre et un bon vin blanc pour annuler le mari!_ " Steve chuckles, understanding Mina's near flawless French. Mina's father, Alexander, was born and raised in the small French town called Vouvant, having met Mina's mother, Victoria, while they were both at studying in Paris. Both Mina and her brother had been taught French from birth, their father solely speaking to them in his native language, so that it was almost like their native language as well. They also both had to speak on the phone weekly to their grandparents, Ada and Albert, as well as spending two weeks with them every summer in Vouvant. Steve also was fairly fluent, from his time with the Commandos. "But, you have to ignore that last part…she loved Pépère."

Steve just nods his head, smiling, as they enter a large open space, half dedicated to the kitchen and half to the living room. He stands by the bar that separates the living room from the kitchen, watching her move around the kitchen, first putting the flowers in a vase and then pulling the food out of the oven. She instructs him to place the desert he had brought in the refrigerator and asks him to grab the salad and wine while he was in there. The two of them move around the kitchen, setting the small diner table off to the side in the small space her and Molly had designated the dining room. Once the table is set, the two sit opposite of each other, Steve immediately digging into his meal. As he had told Mina, he had spent the last three weeks holed up in a small room in Mexico, living off whatever provisions he had been provided or whatever Natasha brought him; it had been a while since he had eaten a proper meal. The two make small talk, Steve updating her on what books he had finished since they had last seen each other and Mina telling him stories from work. "And I swear she didn't even read the new docent script!" Mina vents, throwing her hands in the air for effect. "She was spouting some crap about how you, with a single punch, took down one of those huge flying caterpillar things to a bunch of first graders!"

The blonde just shakes his head at the story about Louise as he takes the plates from the table and places them in the sink. Mina joins him, swinging the faucet to the basin in front of her and begins to rinse the plates off. "That was actually Hulk that did that— "

" _I know!"_ Mina says through her teeth. Steve can't help but chuckle at her frustration, her passion for her work and presenting correct information. "I swear that woman is trying to send me into early heart failure— "

"Hey, hey, hey…" Steve reaches across her, gently grasping the tops of her arms, and spinning her to face him. She lets out a low groan, knowing exactly what he was getting ready to say. "You are the boss there—you know that. If she is doing something to undermine the place or isn't following the standards that the board have…then you need to discuss it with the board."

Mina lets out a sigh, nodding her head. "I know…I know." She shuts her eyes for a moment before opening them again and nodding her head. "I'll email Derek tomorrow…because it really is getting out of hand."

"Good." Steve gives her shoulders a minute squeeze before dropping his hands. Together, they rinse all the dishes in the sink and place them in the dishwasher. On his insistence, Mina returns to the table as Steve gets two smalls plates down to serve the desert he had brought. With her chin propped in her hand, she watches Steve get the desert out of the fridge, keeping the box set so that she couldn't see inside. Steve gives her a small grin as he picks up the desert from the box and places it on a plate. The grin she had given him widens when she sees he had gotten her favorite desert.

"How in the world did you get a pecan pie in March?" She says as Steve brings the two plates over. "And in Brooklyn, no less—"

"If you call ahead, they will make whatever kind of pie you want." Steve says. Mina lets out a quiet squeal of excitement as she digs into her piece. "And I remembered that you said pecan pie is your favorite so…"

"Thank you, so much." Mina says it with a mouth full of pie. She hated when people talked with food in their mouth but she was so happy in that moment that she didn't care. "Like—really, _really,_ thank you!"

"You're welcome." Steve says. Seeing Mina so happy filled Steve with a happiness of his own that he had not ever experienced before…not since Peggy. He hadn't actually had a "real" relationship with Peggy Carter; but whatever feelings he had felt her had been real. Even if they were different fro what he felt for Mina. "Anytime."

When the pieces of pie are finished and the rest of the pie is put back away in the fridge, Mina isn't sure what to do next. Usually after dinner the pair would sit and talk or take a stroll through Central Park; but here in her home…she isn't sure what to do. "We could watch a movie, if you want?" she suggests. Steve starts to answer her, but her nerves kick into overdrive and her mouth continues on. "Or if you have to get back—that's cool too. I mean, I never really asked if you had any other plans. Which is fine, I mean—"

"A movie sounds great, Mina." Steve stops her, placing a hand over hers. She shakes her head for a second, trying to dispel any nerves she had. Steve inquires if she has a certain movie, one she had mentioned multiple times as one of her favorites.

Mutually agreeing to watching the movie, the two move into the living room, Steve settling in on the couch and Mina setting up the DVD player and disc. Once the menu for the film was playing, Mina grabs the remote and moves towards the couch. Sitting down next to Steve, she isn't even aware of how close she sits to him; they weren't touching, but close enough to send a message. Steve stiffens a moment, thrown by her proximity, but then instantaneously relaxes. He looks down at her as she navigates the menu, putting on the subtitles as she remarks how some parts of the movie can be hard to understand volume-wise. He almost misses the opening scene, a young man lying in an abandoned street as he pretended to fall asleep with a toy monkey, as he continues to look at Mina; he was fascinated with the undercurrent of joy running through her features. Before he missed too much more, he finally tore his eyes away, looking at the screen.

Mina felt Steve looking at her and prayed that he couldn't see the nerves on her face that she was feeling. In that moment, she desperately wanted him to put an arm around her shoulders. Did Steve even know that was okay to do so, she wondered to herself. They had covered just about every topic of conversation on earth that two people could cover, but dating habits and little things like an arm around shoulders during a movie was not anything they had talked about. Mina's arms cross over her stomach, her nerves shifting to self-consciousness; maybe Steve didn't like her the way she liked him? As the movie morphed to a scene with the titular character arriving at his first day of school, Mina sees Steve hand twitch on his leg out of the corner of her eye. Then, as if he could have heard her thoughts, he slowly lifts the arm and lets it come to rest over her shoulder. At the same time, the two look at each other, nervous for different reasons. "Is that okay?" Steve asks quietly. He had remembered, a memory from so long ago, Bucky doing the same thing to different girls he had brought to the movies. Mina gives him a tight smile, nodding her head. Steve fleetingly returns the smile before they continue watching the movie. The nerves in her stomach settling, Mina uncrosses her arms, scoots closer to Steve, and lets one of her hands gently come to rest near Steve's knee.

The two watch the rest of the movie in comfortable silence, laughing in the appropriate places, Steve occasionally commenting on the absurdity of two of the characters fighting. As the movie comes to an end, Mina looks up at Steve, wanting to see his reaction to the surprise ending. "I have…" he says, staring the screen as it switches over to the menu screen once again. "I have so many questions…"

"I'd be disappointed if you didn't." Mina says, a tiny bit of a chuckle in her voice. The two go back and forth, discussing the film for some time; neither move though from how they had been sitting during the movie. "Now do you see why I love this movie so much?"

Steve shakes his head, smiling. "I'll agree…it's a good movie. Even if I don't fully understand the whole 'commentary on the American teenager during the 1950's' part."

"Well, I wouldn't expect you to, seeing as how you weren't around for that…" Mina says as Steve slowly removes his arm from around her shoulder. The two turn slightly so that they are facing each other more. When their eyes lock, as they had so many other times, Mina's mind goes blank. She can vaguely register Steve asking if the main actor from the film had another movie out—but she doesn't answer him right away. Instead, she leans up and forward, moving totally on feeling and presses her lips to Steve's. Just as Steve starts to reciprocate the kiss, Mina pulls back, her eyes wide. "I am so sorry—" she says to a bewildered Steve. "I shouldn't have—I mean—" Her apologies are cut short by Steve placing one hand on her waist and another on her neck, gently guiding her face back towards his. Both had wanted to kiss the other for so long, without realizing it. As Steve's lips-so much softer than she expected-moved against hers, one of Mina's hands move up, resting on Steve's broad shoulder. Their hands stay in place when they finally pull back from each other. They stare at each other, first in a post-kiss daze, and then with tentative, shy smiles. "Um…"

"That was…was that okay?" Steve asks. He wasn't sure why he asked; the smile on Mina's face already told him it was.

"Better than 'okay'." Mina answers as Steve's hand drops from her neck. "I certainly—um, that was definitely unexpected though…"

"Yeah, um…" Steve looks down for a moment, shutting his eyes briefly to regain his composure. When he opens them again, Mina is still sheepishly smiling at him. "We should probably—" A shrill series of beeps rings out from Steve's pant pocket, cutting him off and causing Mina to jump. With a sigh, he pulls the phone out and reads it. With a mumble about the worst timing ever, he replaces the phone to its spot and lets out a sigh. "I got to go…"

Mina stands the same time as him, her brows furrowing together. "Work emergency?" Steve nods his head, giving her a look saying that he did not want to leave. "That's fine; we'll just—" She shrugs a shoulder as they head towards the front door. "Just text me when you get back…"

"Hey—" Steve can see the sadness on her face as they reach the door. As he had done after dinner, he gently grabs the tops of her shoulders. Mina looks up at him, her face blank but her eyes betraying her. "I'll come back here…don't worry. We need to…talk about this."

"Yeah," Mina nods her head. "Okay." Steve takes a half step towards her, briefly pressing his lips to hers before walking through the door.

* * *

The next morning, Mina moves around the kitchen, readying her pot of coffee to start brewing. Steve had text her a little while ago, saying that he was back in the city already and wondered if he could come by. She was shocked that he was back in the city already, but told him that he could. Molly was still gone, at a convention for art historians. As she is getting ready to start the machine, a series of knocks on the door sounds in the apartment. "Good morning!" She says to him, brightly, happy to see him as she opens the front door.

Steve smiles back at her, returning the greeting. "I brought you coffee." He lifts the tray holding two cups along with a bag Mina could only guess was fresh pastries. She waves him in, leading him to the living room where they perch on the couch.

"I didn't expect you back so soon." Mina says as Steve hands her a coffee (black, dark roast, as Steve remembered). "Did it not go as planned?"

"Not quite—" Steve answers, canting his head slightly to the side. "Resolved itself while we were enroute."

"That's good…I guess?" She raises an eyebrow as she takes a bite of the doughnut Steve had also handed her, not sure if it had resolved itself in the positive or negative. Steve senses her unspoken question and nods his head, chuckling at her. She nods her head, chuckling as well. The two sit there, sipping their coffee and eating the doughnuts. When they are gone, Mina sits the empty coffee cup on the coffee table. "Okay…so…about last—"

Steve stops her by pressing his lips to hers. After a few moments of their lips moving against each other's like a dance, Steve pulls back. Mina's eyes are still closed as he reaches up, his fingertips tips tentatively ghosting across her cheek. "Yeah…about last night…"

"This isn't going to be easy…" Mina says with a heavy sigh. "With you living in D.C. and me here…and don't even get me started on your work—"

"Yeah, I know…but, I—" Steve shakes his head, not sure how to convey what he was feeling. He was always crap at this sort of thing…mainly because he had so little experience. Mina reaches out and wraps one of her hands around Steve just as he places one over hers. "I like you, Mina. I like what we have and I want more. You're right…it won't be easy, but I think it'll be worth it."

Mina nods her head, smiling. "I think so too." The two come together again, arms wrapping around each other and pulling each other as close as they had wanted to for so long. "Wow…" Mina says as the two pull apart.

"Yeah," Steve says, smiling and feeling happier than he had in a long time. "Same."

* * *

 **A/N:** Sorry for the delay in update! Just a side note that I do not speak fluent French so all translations come from good ole Google :)


	6. Chapter 6

" _Oh my Lord!"_ Louise screeches from the breakroom. It wasn't a rarity for her to yell out about something, but her tone this time had Anna and Mina running from their offices to the breakroom. When they arrive, they see what had Louise yelling: an attack was happening in Washington D.C. at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, HYDRA suddenly exposed. All of the blood drains from Mina's face, watching the news coverage; reports were saying Captain America and Black Widow were right in the middle of the fighting. "I gotta—" With Anna calling after her, Mina runs back to her office and grabs her stuff. "I gotta go—I'm sorry Anna, I'll call, I swear!" She couldn't tell Anna or Louise where she was going because no one knew that she was dating Steve.

Steve wasn't the only reason she was rushing home and sending Molly hurried texts that she was taking her car to D.C. Her brother was there also, working at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center as a trauma doctor. She knew he would be working around the clock and seeing as how she was the closest family member, her parents would expect her to go and look after him. When anything happened to a Descoteaux, the whole family closed ranks, helping the one in need no matter what. Naturally, David wasn't answering his phone as she called him on her way; Steve wasn't either, but that wasn't any bigger of a surprise.

Her and Steve had been dating for the last month, seeing each other a dozen or so times, even if it was just for a few hours. Each time they had seen each other they had grown even closer. She had spoken to him, just the day before; it was a short conversation, just him saying that he was back from a mission and that he would call her later after he visited Peggy Carter. The phone call never came, which was something she was used to by now. It was her new normal. Molly knew she was dating someone, just not who; her best friend kept guessing various actors because of the secrecy. The realities of Steve's job were not lost on her, the gripping fear that when he left that could be the last time she saw him. But this attack, a full-out battle against an enemy everyone thought was long gone, was something new and had her hands shaking as she drove.

As she sped down the highway, she kept the news playing on the radio, keeping up with the action. When the reporters mention how Captain America had not been seen and his condition was unknown, it took everything in her not to pull over.

Once she reaches her brother's house, it was dark and the attack had been over for a couple hours. Her brother finally answers the phone as well. "What do you mean you're at my place?" He says between giving orders to a nurse. Naturally, the hospital was swamped with most of the wounded coming to them.

"You know Mom would expect me to come and keep an eye on you…make sure you're eating." Mina had already received a text and a phone call from her mother requesting as much. "Plus…"

"What? Plus what?" David inquires. Mina chewed over the thought of asking if he had heard anything about Steve. The news outlets were still reporting that his whereabouts were unknown and Mina hadn't heard from him either. With no one knowing that they were dating, either, she doubted anyone would call her.

"Plus…I've been kind of dating this guy who works—worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. and I haven't heard anything from him—"

"Woah, woah, woah…" David cuts her off. "You've been dating someone…and haven't told me?"

It was shocking that she hadn't told him, Mina and David were very close. "Yeah, I know…but not the point Dave…" Mina lets out a sigh as she picks at a loose thread on his couch.

"I know." David could sense the worry in her voice, even if she was trying to hide it. "If you give me a name…maybe I could look him up, see if he's a patient here… _oh crap…_ you don't think he's HY-"

"Not a chance in hell." Mina shakes her head absolutely. "But no…I'll just—I'll wait and see if I hear from him."

"Alright, well…I don't know when I'll get out of here—"

"Already starting to cook you some meals to bring you tomorrow…including breakfast." Mina says, doing just that as she scans her brother's refrigerator.

"You are a literal lifesaver…truly and honestly." Mina just smiles as David starts talking away from the phone to someone else. "Okay, hey, I got to go…a patient just got out of surgery so I gotta go update family and all that good stuff. I'll see you tomorrow?"

Mina tells him that he will, giving him a rough estimate of when she would get to the hospital. After telling each other goodbye, Mina sits the phone down and leans back against the counter. Now that she knew her brother was okay and would be okay, Steve was all that was on her mind. She could not think of a single way of how to get ahold of him or even who to contact to find out about him. Just showing up at the hospital and inquiring about him was out of the question and the news outlets seemed to still know nothing. With a shaking breath and swallowing down the lump in her throat, Mina starts grabbing items out of the fridge. About an hour later, as she slides a pan of chicken into the oven, her phone starts to ring. Assuming it was David or Molly…or Anna (she had forgotten to call her back), she takes her time getting to it; once she sees it's a call from an unknown D.C. number, she rushes to answer it. "Hello?" she tries not to sound frantic as she presses the phone to her ear, a small part of her brain thinking this call may be about Steve.

"Hi…uh, is this Mina?" a husky, unfamiliar voice says from the other end. Mina responds that it is, inquiring who was calling her. "I'm, um, my name is Sam Wilson ma'am…we have a mutual friend?"

Blindly grabbing for the back of the chair, Mina pulls herself onto one of the barstools. "Steve? You know Steve? How is he? I haven't heard and he hasn't answered any—"

"He's fine." The two words instantly calm Mina's nerves, causing her to let out a long breath along with a single tear. "He just got out of surgery a little while ago…he's in a room right now, they think he'll most likely sleep until tomorrow. But, bottom line is that he's going to be okay."

" _Oh my god,"_ Mina mainly says to herself. "Thank you, Sam…um…" She takes deep breath, trying to think what to ask or say next. All of her mind was consumed by the one thought that Steve was okay and was going to be okay. Though, a small part was wondering how he got her number…or even knew to call her. "Could I-could I visit him?"

There was a pause. "Yeah, you know if you can get here from New York…I don't think there are any flights—"

"Um…" Mina cuts him off, a blush of embarrassment staining her cheeks. "I'm kind of already in D.C…." Sam doesn't say anything, waiting for her to continue. "I didn't—I didn't come down here just for Steve…my—I have a brother who works at Walter Reed and I came to look after him. Yeah, no—that'd be crazy if I came all this way just for a guy I've only been dating a—"

"Hey, I didn't say anything." Sam says. Much to Mina's surprise, there wasn't an ounce of judgment in Sam's tone, just understanding. "It shouldn't shock me, honestly. Last couple days he kept mentioning you—" The man stops himself, as if he had said something he shouldn't have. "Um, anyway, yeah…I think he'd really like it if you came to visit. Tomorrow though—"

"Oh, yeah, visiting hours and such." Mina nods her head. Sam tells Mina the various security measures that she will have to go through once she arrives at the hospital. "That's expected. I'll just send you a text when I get there?"

"Sounds good to me." Sam suddenly sounded exhausted, as if telling Mina about Steve's condition was the last item on a very long to-do list. "Hey, I won't even mention to him that you're coming…let it be a surprise and all that."

Mina smiles to herself, the first time all day. "Thank you, Sam." The man tells her that she's welcome, confirms Steve's floor number and which department he was in, and then finally ends the call. Once the screen of her phone is black, Mina places her hands over her face, sobbing quiet tears of relief.

* * *

Before she could go see Steve, Mina had to deliver the massive amount of food that she had made for her brother. After the phone call with Sam, and then more phone calls with Molly and Anna, Mina had not been able to sleep. As a default, she cooked her brother way more food than he would ever be able to eat in one day; ideally, he would share it with some of the other staff which Mina could already tell looked overworked from the previous day's events and influx of patients. A kind nurse at one of the stations had paged David for her, telling her that she could wait for him in the physician's lounge. The lounge was deserted, so Mina was left to her thoughts for the fifteen minutes she had to wait.

"I swear I could smell the food from down the hall." David says with his usual flair of dramatics as he enters the room. Mina smiles noting his usually tidy brown hair was a disheveled mess, but not enough that anyone would notice. For their whole lives people had remarked how much David and Mina looked alike, but she could never see it; David was a good foot taller than her and rail thin. Even after a decade in the Army, David was the happiest person Mina knew; now though, his usual cheerful smile was a littler duller, a little more tired. " _Bon Dieu, ma soeur…_ how much food did you make?"

David's eyes scan over the four casserole dishes and three Tupperware bowls before finally landing on his sister. Her usual tidy appearance was a little off, the lack of sleep from the previous night evident on her face. Mina looked calm, her usual in-control-self; but David could see the tiny cracks in her demeanor. He knew that she had a boyfriend that was possibly caught up in yesterday's incident…but she obviously had more going on than what she had told him. "I couldn't sleep last night so…" She waves a hand towards the food to showcase the product of her lack of sleep. "You better share this…just walking down the halls you can see this staff is already over worked—"

"Are you okay?" David cuts her off. "I know you said you had a boyfriend that you hadn't heard— oh god…did he—"

"No, no, no!" Mina's hands wave in front of her as David gives her a look of horror. He hadn't even considered the possibility that the unknown man may have perished in the attack. "No, David—he's fine. I just…"

Mina trails off, hanging her head to hide her face from her brother. She knew that Steve was fine, laying somewhere in this hospital right now. In reality though, what had happened had shaken her to her core and she was nervous about seeing him. "Then what is going on?" David sits in the chair next to her, gathering her hands up in his. He squeezes on them lightly until she finally looks up at him. "Minnie…you know you can talk to me…what's going on?"

"I'm supposed to go see him this morning, now and I'm nervous…I'm scared—" Glancing around the empty room, just to double check that they really were alone, Mina finally tells David her secret. "My boyfriend, he doesn't just work for S.H.I.E.L.D…" David stares at her, waiting for her to continue. "Dave…I've been dating Steve Rogers the past month." Her brother sits there quietly as Mina unleashes the whole story, of how they met to the phone call that she had received the night before.

"Minnie…I—" David was at a loss for words. This was a shock to say the least; but he was mainly shocked she hadn't told anyone about any of this for the past six months. Plus, the secret he was holding onto himself. "You're dating Captain freaking America?" He couldn't tell her his secret, not yet.

She lets out a sigh, rubbing at her temple. "This is a mess—"

"That is an understatement—"

"David, I—" Mina stops to shake her head. This was all truly a mess. "I'm supposed to go see him right now and…I don't know what to say to him…what am I supposed to say to him? I—I'm a historian, I don't do all this stuff—how am I-?"

"Mina, hey, calm down." David reaches out, placing his hand on the tops of Mina shoulders; He could see the fear rising in her eyes. "You are Wilhelmina Violette Descoteaux…you are a badass…you are tough…you can handle anything life throws at you. Do you remember my deployment?" Mina nods her head, reaching up to wipe an errant tear. "You handled it better than me or anyone else in the family. Okay? Now…do you like this man…like, _really_ like him?" Mina nods her head again, smiling a little despite herself. "Okay…well then, that is all that matters. Once you get in there…you'll know what to say."

Mina shuts her eyes for a second, takes a deep breath, and centers herself. David was right; she could handle this. Even if she didn't know what she was walking into, or what Steve's next course of action was, she could handle it. "Thanks David." She stands, giving her brother a quick peck on the forehead before he stands as well. "I'm going to go see him now…or well, I got to go through fifty rounds of security first and then I can go see him."

David hums his reaction, nodding his head and telling her that he'll let the nurses and staff know about the food and that he'll get some later. When Mina raises an eyebrow at him, he explains. "I, uh—I need to go see a patient." Thankfully Mina doesn't catch the hesitation in his tone. She just nods her head and gives him a little wave before leaving the room. Once she is gone, David makes a beeline out of the room and down the hallway. As he passes the nurses station, he does make sure to tell them about the food (Mina would ask them herself just to make sure). Luck was on his side as it seemed he made it to the hallway where his patient was before his sister could get there. The armed guards at the door just nod their head at him, recognizing him as the patient's doctor. After knocking on the door, David enters, the two men inside chatting in low voices. He hadn't planned on seeing this particular patient until a little later in the morning to give him some time to rest…but his sister's revelation earlier changed all that. "And how is Captain Rogers doing this morning?"

The blonde super soldier looks at David from his bed, giving him a small nod. "Well…I've been better…but I've also been worse." Before either of them can say anything, Steve's visitor in the room excuses himself, saying that he needed to make a phone call. Steve doesn't seem to think anything of it, but David has a sneaking feeling that he is actually going to retrieve his sister. "So, Doc…when do you think I can get out of here?"

David gives a small chuckle. "At least a couple more days…which is very strange for me to say because most guys that roll in here with your injuries would be here at least a month." Steve doesn't say anything, just a small upturn of the corner of his mouth in response. The two discuss his injuries a little further, going into more detail. "Look…Captain Rogers—"

"Please…" The man holds up a hand. "Call me Steve."

"Okay…Steve…." David shakes his head again, trying to get his mind in order. "Um, I need to speak with you about something…not as doctor-to-patient…but more as man-to-man." A crease forms between Steve's eyebrows as David rocks back on his heels and stuffs his hands into the pocket of his lab coat. "Geez…I don't really know how else to say this so I'll just come out and say it…I just learned that you are dating my sister, Mina…"

The two men stare at each other in silence. A million thoughts were running through Steve's mind: the name should have been a giveaway (though he was pretty doped up the first time they met) and the more that he looked at the man in front of him the more he saw the resemblance. They had the same slightly upturned nose, thick dark brown hair, and large blue-grey eyes; he was also wearing the same blank expression he had gotten used to from Mina when she was waiting on him to react. He didn't really know what to say. "Oh…yes…"

"I'm not bringing this up as in a concerned-big-brother way or anything like that." David explains. "My concern is…if you aren't comfortable with me continuing your care I would understand. It's not technically a conflict of interest…but it is up to you."

Steve nods his head, thinking it over a moment. "Mina has said multiple times how good of a doctor you are." He finally says. "If you are okay with it…I'd be okay with you continuing my care."

"Okay then…that settles that." David says, breathing a sigh of relief. He had hoped that Steve wouldn't kick him off his care just for the simple fact that David wished to see him through his recovery.

"Did you, um—have you mentioned to her that I'm here?" Steve asks just as David was getting ready to leave the room. David turns on his heels, his sneakers squeaking on the flooring, and gives Steve a confused stare. "I haven't talked to her since all of this happened…and you know her, she is probably worried sick…"

A small conspiratorial smile creeps onto David's face; Steve didn't know that Mina was here. Standing next to the door, he could now hear her voice out by the nurses' station as she checked-in. "You know, I actually did not say anything to her about our situation…or yours for that matter, um—" One of Steve's eyebrows quirks up at the sudden shift in mood of David. "She…uh…" David could see that Steve didn't know that Mina was in town. It was obviously a set up between her and Steve's friend to surprise him. "No. I haven't said anything to her. She mentioned that she hadn't heard from you…" Before Steve can say anything, waves a hand through the air and takes on an almost flippant tone. "Well, Steve, as I said just a couple more days in here and then you'll be back in action…or whatever you decide to do. If you need anything just let one of the nurses know and they can get ahold of me. Have a good day."

Steve mumbles a goodbye as the doctor smiles brightly at him and then leaves the room. Something was off about his behavior once he had mentioned not hearing from Mina. Sam had told him he couldn't get ahold of her either. He didn't think anyone would have gotten to her, harmed her. So he didn't understand why _he_ hadn't gotten to talk to her yet. His phone had been destroyed during the attack and it seemed Sam had taken his with him when he left the room. Something was up and it had him on edge. As the door handle starts to turn, he decides he was going to demand Sam give him his phone so that he could call Mina himself. The plan goes out the window though when Mina walks through the door. She steps in the room, her eyes lock on Steve has she shuts the door behind her. The two just stare at each other, each not sure who should speak first.

"So…um…surprise?" Mina finally says after a minute of silence. Steve responds by chuckling lightly. When he does, Mina crosses the room in a couple of steps and plops herself on the edge of his bed. Both of them lean forward, wrapping arms haphazardly around one another; Steve wincing slightly, moving so fast was still a little painful. "Sam called me last night." Mina explains when they each finally pull back. She helps Steve adjust his pillows behind him so that he was resting a little more comfortably. "And before you say that I didn't have to come down here, I have to admit that I was already down here when he called me."

Steve dips his chin a little, raising an eyebrow. "You were already here…in D.C.?" It clicks into place why she would have come to D.C. after hearing about the attack. "Your brother?"

This time Mina furrows her eyebrows together. "My brother? How did—" Steve just points to the board on the wall that has the name of his care team, including her brother's. Her eyes shut briefly as she smiles. "Of course…because the universe has such a funny sense of humor." The two snicker quietly before looking at each other again. "How are you…really? I know Sam said you were going to be fine…"

He lists out his various injuries, knowing that was what she wanted to hear. "Yet, despite all of that, because of the serum, I promise…I'm fine." One of his hands covers Mina's, giving it a light squeeze. For the first time since she had gotten in the room, she smiles brightly at him, the smile that he loved so much. "I was…" He clears his throat, looking down at their hands folded together. "When all this started…I couldn't stop thinking about you." After a moment of silence, he finally looks back up at her. "I was afraid that they somehow found out about you…they knew so much…and that they would go after you…"

A moment of panic washes over Steve as Mina pulls her hands from his. Then, she places her hands on the sides of his face, making him look at her again. "I'm okay Steve; I am." She leans forward and gingerly presses her lips to his. The thought hadn't actually crossed her mind that she would be in any danger. All she could think about when she saw the giant ships falling from the sky was Steve (and her brother of course). When she pulls back, Steve smiles at her; some of the worry in his eyes quelled. After she had learned of Steve's fate the night before, Mina had shut off the news. She knew the basis of what had happened, and figured that if there were any other details she needed to know that she would learned them from Steve. "So, um—we don't—we don't have to talk about what happened…" she says tentatively. "I know the basic facts of it. But, you know, if you—" She felt silly, saying this to Steve. Shaking her head, she lets out a sigh as her hands come down to hold onto his again. "Just know that I'm here…if you need to talk about anything."

A tight smile pulls the corner of Steve's lips up as he nods his head. He honestly didn't know what he could or couldn't tell her. There was no governing body hanging over him anymore, telling him what was classified and unclassified. He did know that she would need to know something; not only to quell her own curiosity that he knew she harbored but to also make her aware and keep her safe. But he also didn't want to unpack all of his baggage on her; and boy did he have a lot. Taking a deep breath, he decides on what he should tell her about first; the one thing that he was certain was going to dictate his life for the foreseeable future. "I need to tell you about Bucky…"


	7. Chapter 7

As Mina was walking up the short walkway to the house, the owner of the house exited, greeting her warmly. "Hey Mina—" Sam said, holding a hand up for a brief wave. The two stopped when they reach each other.

"Hey Sam." She returned the greeting. "So…how is he today?"

Both pairs of eyes had cut towards the house, as if to make sure the man they were talking about wasn't listening in. Sam shrugged a shoulder before answering. "Like always, better than yesterday. I think he's starting to go a little stir-crazy, staying in the house all the time though."

Mina pursed her lips as she nodded her head. It had been three days since Steve had been discharged from the hospital. Sam had graciously agreed to let him stay with him, for however long it took, until Steve figured out what his plans were. Mina, on her part, had visited him every day, making sure he was eating properly and following her brother's discharge orders. "Yeah…honestly though, he's held out longer than I thought." Out of the corner of her eye, Mina saw the curtains on the front window move, alerting her that they had been spotted. "We've been made…I believe the saying is." With a tip of her head towards the door she answered Sam's unspoken question of what she was talking about. The man chuckled lightly before stating that he needed to get to work anyway. The two bid each other farewell before Mina finished the short trek to the front door. "Was someone spying from the front window?" she accused as she shut the front door behind after entering the house.

Steve smiled shyly at her from the couch at being caught. "I thought I had heard your voice out there." After hanging her coat on the rack Mina joined him on the couch. Their hands intertwined as Steve leaned down to place a kiss on the top of her head. "Didn't know you were coming over this early."

"David is finally home for an extended period of time, so I thought I'd get out of his house so he could sleep." Mina explained. Even though it hadn't been required of him, David had worked extra shifts to help cover the influx of patients after the attack on S.H.I.E.L.D. When he had arrived home that morning he had resembled a zombie, prompting Mina to declare she would be out of the house so that he could sleep. Her suggestion was met merely with a grunt and a bedroom door shut accidently too hard. "So…you get me for the day…or until you get sick of me."

Mina chuckled at her joke but Steve just shook his head. In part of her mind she knew that Steve wouldn't tire of her. But, with their relationship still being relatively new, there were some lingering insecurities there. "You didn't notice anything out of the ordinary on your way over…did you?" Picking her head up, Mina looked up at Steve and raised an eyebrow. "I'm serious Mina…"

"I know." Mina said with a sigh. She knew that Steve was just worried about her, but it was a little hard for her to accept that this was part of her life. She was used to family fussing over her, making sure she stayed safe on her various travels abroad. With this though, it was a real, dangerous threat…or a potential threat at least. Mina let out a sigh, smoothing down an imaginary wrinkle in her skirt. "I'm not complaining…I swear I'm not…this just isn't something I'm used to." Steve wrapped an arm around Mina's shoulders, pulling her close to his side. He started to talk, but Mina cut him off. "And I'm not saying that I can't handle it or anything like that."

Steve takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I know." When they had talked the night before, Steve had expressed his thoughts that he did not think Bucky would actually go after Mina; he was more afraid of HYDRA doing that. According to Natasha though, at the moment, the organization was laying low and licking their wounds after the attack. After a few more minutes of quiet, Mina pushed herself off the couch and started for the kitchen, declaring that she knew that Steve hadn't had breakfast yet and wanted to know what he wanted. He followed her, helping her prepare a small breakfast for the two of them. It turned out, Mina learned during the flipping of pancakes, that he actually had already at that morning, but he could always eat more. Once the food was prepared and the two of them seated at the table, Steve shares some news. "I've been looking at apartments in Brooklyn—" Mina's fork slightly faltered in her hand. "Stark said I could stay with him though, at the Tower, until I find something more permanent." Mina still just stared at him. "The team…the Avengers…we're going to go after HYDRA."

Sitting her fork down, Mina just stared at Steve. "Okay…" She knew she was staring at him with the blank expression that Steve complained he was never able to read. He waited, though, for her to speak. She had thought long and hard about this moment, and what her reaction would be. The declaration still surprised her, but she recovered quickly. "What do you need me to do?" That was not what he was expecting her to say and voices so. "Well I'm not just going to sit at home twiddling my thumbs. I'll talk to Molly's parents, see if they can find any leads on apartments for you." That part Steve seemed to take well enough; but Mina knew the next part would take some convincing. "I may not be any sort of fighter…but I'm smart and I'm good at research—oh, since all the S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA files were dumped online I could start surfing through those, see if I can find any good info on Bucky for you—"

"Mina, no—"

"You can't tell me no on this Steve." Mina had pushed her plate to the side and folded her hands on the table. "Look, you should know by now that I am not one to just sit back and let others do all the work; especially when the work is helping my boyfriend find his childhood friend who also just so happens to be an integral part of the history for the museum I work at."

Much to her surprise, Steve smiled wryly in response. "So…your motives are almost purely for your own gain is what you're saying?" That was one thing she liked so much about Steve, he wasn't intimidated or tried to quell her power. She had an asset that she could offer, so he accepted it. Sure, she knew he would fret over her, making sure that she stayed safe…but that was it. He wasn't protective of her to satisfy some masculinity issues and he wasn't go to limit her…he just genuinely wanted her to be safe.

"Well, my professional gain anyway." Mina said with a shrug. She gave Steve a wink when she got up from the table and went to her purse in the living room. When she returned Steve had already put away their plates. "I went ahead and started some last night. It's not much, but it may be a starting point." She handed Steve a flash drive that contained the little (and by little she meant four hours worth) of research she was able to find on Bucky.

Steve took the drive, turning it in his fingers, before sliding it into his pocket. "Thank you, Mina." He reached across the table, grabbing one of her hands into his. "But please, just promise you won't go too deep into this." Mina nodded her head, understanding his unspoken reasoning. There was no telling who would be watching, waiting to see who would be looking up info about HYDRA and their former missions. The rest of the morning was spent perusing the internet looking at apartments in Brooklyn; Mina had reached out to Molly's parents to see if they could get her the inside scoop on a place. When the afternoon rolled around, Mina noticed Steve raising an eyebrow at a text he had received. He told her that it was from a former work "friend", asking him and Sam to meet him at a cemetery later that evening. After a few more texts back and forth, Steve announced that if Mina wished to accompany him that she could. With a surprised look, she told him that she would.

When the time came for them to go to the cemetery, Steve drove them. Mina sat in the passenger seat, nervously ringing her hands. She had never met any of the people that Steve worked with, besides Sam. There were plenty of stories out there about the famous Black Widow, Natasha Romanov-who Steve seemed to work the most with and who she assumed they were meeting. By now, according to Steve, those closest to him which included Natasha, knew he was dating Mina. She wondered why she was invited to this meeting; maybe Steve had told them what she had done and was planning on doing research for them to help him find Bucky? At the cemetery, Steve and Mina meet up with Sam before making the trek through the cemetery to the grave they had been directed to go to. They finally arrived at a simple tombstone engraved with the name _Col. Nicholas J. Fury_ and a bible quote. Mina's eyebrows furrowed together for a moment before realizing the tombstone was a fake; the rest of the world thought Fury was dead still. As the trio stared at the stone, a figure in sunglasses and a hoodie approached them. "So, you've experienced this sort of thing before?"

Steve snorted quietly, shaking his head. "You get used to it." He replied to Fury, no doubt thinking of the various friends' tombstones he'd visited since coming out of the ice, Mina realized.

Fury just nodded his head once in response. "We've been data-mining HYDRA's files. Looks like a lot of rats didn't go down with the ship." He turned from looking at the stone to Steve. "I'm headed to Europe tonight, wanted to ask if you'd come."

The super soldier didn't even take a moment to consider the offer before he is shaking his head. "There's something I got to do first."

"How about you, Wilson?" Fury offered, turning to Sam this time. "Could use a man with your abilities."

Sam also shook his head. "I'm more of a soldier than a spy."

Surprising everyone there, Fury then turned to Mina. The shocked look on her face seemed to amuse him as he gave her a half grin. "Don't worry Miss Descoteaux, I won't be requesting you to join me." Mina visibly relaxed as she chuckles nervously. "But, I am aware that you've already begun doing some digging on your own. And, S.H.I.E.L.D. had been aware of your…research skills…before you met Rogers." Steve and Mina both looked at each other with confused glimpses before looking back at Fury. "In the future, I may reach out to you, if you are okay with that?"

Mina nodded her head. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Steve's jaw tighten. "I don't know how much help a history nerd could be with what you're doing…but yeah, sure."

Fury's head ticked to the side. "You'd be surprised." He reached out shaking Steve, Sam, and even Mina's hand. "Anybody asks for me, tell them they can find me right here." The trio followed his eyeline to the grave, staring at it again as he walked away.

"You should be honored." A new voice joined them. Mina looked to her right, seeing the red-haired agent she had seen on television numerous times over the last few days. Natasha came to a stop beside them, smiling at Fury's retreating figure. "That's about as close as he gets to saying thank you."

"Not going with him?" Steve asked her as he turned towards her. She shook her head, telling him no. "Not staying here?"

"I blew all my covers, I gotta go figure out a new one." She said. Mina stood there, suddenly feeling out of place. She wasn't intimidated by the spy, as she thought she would be; it did make her uncomfortable, though, how the woman hadn't even looked at her since walking up to them.

"That might take a while." Steve remarked.

Natasha smiled tightly at him, slightly pursing her lips. "I'm counting on it." She held up a file folder to Steve then. "That thing you asked for, I called in a few favors from Kiev." Steve took the file from her, glancing at the cover. Mina glanced at it too, noting that the writing on the cover was in Russian. "Glad to see he finally asked you out."

Mina's head snapped up, seeing that Natasha was looking straight at her now. It took her a second to realize what she was talking about. "Oh—" She straightened up, smiling nervously at the spy. "Yeah…I think it may have actually been me that asked him out?"

Beside her, Steve just shook his head; he knew that she was technically right, having kissed him first. "That sounds about right." Natasha said. She winked at Mina before taking a half step forward and kissing Steve on the cheek. "Be careful, Steve. You might not want to pull on that thread." Without another word, she turned and walks away.

Sam and Mina both look at the file as Steve opened it, revealing a picture of Bucky. "You're going after him?" Sam asked.

"You don't have to come with me." Steve told him. Mina glanced up at Sam who was staring off into the distance now. By the look on his face, she could tell that his mind was already made up.

"I know." He answered. "When do we start?"

* * *

Later that evening, as the sun was starting to sink out of the D.C. sky, Mina was staring way too hard at the bottle of beer in her hand…and Sam noticed. "If you're more of a Miller girl, there's a convenience store about a block away." He said, snapping her out of her thoughts. He flipped over one of the steaks on the grill as she let out a heavy sigh.

"It's not the beer." She said, even though Sam already knew that. "What Fury said to me earlier…it just struck a chord with me." Fury's comment about having known about Mina since before she knew Steve was eating away at her as the day went on. After the cemetery, they all agreed that waiting until tomorrow wasn't going to change anything and decided to grill. It was sort of a celebration of Steve finally being healed and also because Mina was going back to New York the next day.

"Yeah. I think that kind of took us all by surprise." As he shut the lid on the grill, Steve came outside, joining them on the small deck. "What did Stark have to say?"

Steve just shook his head as the two men sat down at the table with Mina. "He said I can move into the Tower anytime. Also said that I was welcome to work on whatever side projects I wanted to, but that the team would be focusing on mainly shutting down HYDRA." The comment didn't bother him. If anyone was going to track down Bucky, he would prefer it be himself. "What were you guys talking about?"

Mina took a swig of her beer as Sam pointed at her, as if saying to ask her. "What did Fury mean by 'S.H.I.E.L.D. had been aware of your research skills before you met Rogers'?" She point-blank asked Steve.

In answer, Steve just shook his head. "I don't know. Like I had told you before, I knew about the museum before I met you…but the first time I met you was the first time I had heard of you. I don't have a clue what S.H.I.E.L.D. would have known about you."

"Did you ever apply for a job with them or anything?" Sam asked. Mina shook her head. "They tried to recruit you or anything?"

"No!" Mina said, leaning back in her chair. "The only interactions I've had with them was submitting requests for information after I started at the museum. Even then, though, I hardly interacted with them."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. was kind of known in the military for trying to recruit the best…tried to get us with the wings." Sam said, referring to his Falcon wings. "It's not out of the realm of possibility that they saw something in you that they liked."

"Or that HYDRA saw something they liked." Mina added with a shudder. Both men nodded their heads, taking drinks of their beers. Mina could tell the news bothered Steve more than he was letting on. Shaking her head, Mina ran a hand through her hair and dispelled whatever fear was creeping up on her. "Regardless…this is not going to deter me. Sam, did Steve show you the info I found last night?"

* * *

Late that night, when Mina arrived back at her brother's apartment, she found him wide awake on the couch watching reruns of one of their favorite shows. "Oh, is this the episode where they're trying to get the waffle iron for their friend days?" Mina inquired as she joined him on the couch. She kicked off her shoes, folding her legs underneath her.

David nodded his head as he tipped the bowl of popcorn in his lap towards his sister, letting her take out a handful. "And how was your day with the Captain?" He didn't miss the small grimace that crossed her face as she recounted her day to him. She left out the part about meeting Fury.

"He's leaving tomorrow, after I do, to go search some base in Europe." Mina told him. Naturally, Steve didn't want the whole world to know that he was searching for Bucky, but he felt okay with David knowing. He also recognized that it wasn't healthy for Mina to hide part of her life (well, her life _now_ ) from the people she was closest to. "When he comes back he'll be moving to the city."

"You don't sound as happy as I thought you would about that?" David said. He paused the show as Mina let out a sigh. "Come on…" Reaching a hand out he nudged his sister on the shoulder until she finally swatted his hand away. "Tell your big brother—"

"You're insufferable…you know that?" Mina said, pushing back on David's shoulder. She was semi-reluctant to tell David what Fury had told her. He was one of her best friends though…and there maybe the off chance he knew something about it. "I—I met a couple of the people that Steve worked with at S.H.I.E.L.D. and they said that the organization had had their eye on me…as if they wanted to recruit me at some point."

"Well that's creepy…" David said. Mina let out a sigh when he gives no hint of recognition to knowing anything about it. She had thought maybe they had wanted to recruit him at some point and just by proxy knew about her.

"That is just the tip of the iceberg…" Mina mumbled. She grabbed one of the pillows on the couch and hugged it to her chest as she nestled into the corner of the couch. David raised an eyebrow at his sister. "There is just so much…Steve comes with a lot of baggage—"

"You should've known that—"

"I did, David, I knew that…but this…" Shaking her head, Mina let out a sigh. "As cliché as it sounds I thought I would just be an observer, on the outside of it all. But I'm…I'm in it."

"You know…you don't have to be…" David said almost timidly. In a silent answer to his statement, Mina's eyes widen a fraction. The thought of leaving Steve was preposterous for a very specific, complicated yet simple reason. Without even having to say anything, David understood why. "Oh…Mina…" She was in love with Steve Rogers—and there was no backing out now.

* * *

 **A/N:** Just a brief little thing...I recently received a critic on the way that I write, so if you think this chapter is a is a bit different than the rest that is why! It is still me writing...just writing a bit differently :)


	8. Chapter 8

Mina could feel Molly's eyes on her as she moved around the kitchen, preparing a salad for lunch. It had been a week and a half since Mina had told Molly who she was truly dating. Naturally, she had freaked out on her best friend for a solid hour. Once she had calmed down though, she expressed she was just worried for her friend, especially after the attack in D.C. and the fact that her boyfriend was at the center of all of it. It had been another week after that since Mina had even heard from Steve after he had gone to Europe. Mina was trying not to worry, but she was and Molly could tell she was. "Stop staring or I'm eating that Chubby Hubby you have hidden in the back of the freezer."

"I'm sorry Minnie…I'm just worried about you cause I can see that you're worried-"

"I am not worried." The comment earned a raised eyebrow from Molly. "Okay…I'm worried about him but standing here, talking about it, fretting, and crying over it is not going to change anything or help anything. So…I'm making this salad, I'm going to eat this salad, and we are going to watch that documentary you've been bugging me about watching for the past week."

Molly just shook her head as Mina turned her attention back to making her salad. In truth, on the inside Mina was freaking out with worry. She knew she shouldn't be, that Steve would be fine, and he would be home soon with a reasonable explanation. She also knew that situations like this would most likely become a normal part of being in a relationship with Steve. The afternoon slipped by just as Mina had said it would, her phone also remaining silent. Molly was wise enough to know not to push the matter with her friend; though she was still worried about her.

At about two in the morning, even though the phone was on silent, Mina saw it light up from across her bedroom. A sigh of relief escaped her when she reached it and saw Steve's name across the screen. "I didn't wake you up, did I?" Steve said immediately when she answers.

"No, I was awake." She told him honestly. "Are you okay? It's…"

A sigh from Steve came through the phone as Mina left her words unspoken. "Yeah, I'm fine…I'm okay." He told her. "Look, it's late. I'm back in New York though. We can meet tomorrow?"

"Yeah, that sounds good." She said. "I have something to do in the morning, but you can come by anytime in the afternoon."

"That will work." Steve said. He took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. "I'll see you tomorrow…or well, today I guess."

"Okay." Mina nodded her head. "I'll talk to you soon."

* * *

When the knock on the door sounded through the apartment, Mina was on her feet and heading to the front door before Molly could even react. She took a semi-calming deep breath before undoing the locks. Steve and her just stared at each other for a moment after she opened the door. Neither really knew how to react; finally, Mina moved first by stepping forward and wrapping her arms around Steve's shoulders. In turn, he wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her up in a tight hug. "I was worried about you." Mina quietly said.

Steve's grip slightly tightened before he sat her back on the ground. One of his hands came up, gently cupping the side of her face before leaning to kiss her. "I know…I'm sorry." He whispered once he pulls back.

Mina nodded her head, lightly patting the side of his arm. She tilted her head, silently telling him to come in. Steve followed her into the apartment, spotting Mina's red-headed roommate sitting on the couch. Mina introduced them, Molly staying on the couch instead of rising to shake his outreached hand and giving Steve the stink-eye. "Nice to meet you." Molly had said in a clipped tone. Mina rolled her eyes at her friend's dramatics. "I've heard not a lot about you…well from Mina anyway."

"I apologize for that." Steve replied quickly. "I just…wanted to be careful at the beginning."

The two stared at each for longer than Mina felt comfortable. Molly was obviously sizing him up and Steve was just hoping to gain her approval. After a moment or two, Molly finally raised an eyebrow and rose from the couch. "Yeah, well…you better continue to be careful." Mina asked her where she was going as she grabbed up her purse and work bag. "I'm gonna head over to the museum…there's a new exhibit coming in and I want to get a jump on the research. Plus, you two _obviously_ need to talk."

Mina just let out a sigh, muttering an _alright_ as her best friend walked past them, wiggling her fingers in farewell. "Sorry about that…" Mina muttered after the door had shut. Steve just nodded his head as the two of them sat on the couch, immediately sitting close to one another and intertwining their hands. "Molly can get a little…feisty about stuff."

"It's okay." Steve said. "I can see where she's coming from…"

"Yeah but…I want her to like you as much as I do." Steve raised an eyebrow towards her at her statement. "Okay, that came out wrong…I just want her to be less cold towards you. She's my best friend and you're…"

The statement hung in the air as Mina leaned up and pressed her lips to Steve's. "She'll come around…hopefully." Steve said once they had broken apart. "But…I won't come between you guys." Mina just nodded her head, letting the conversation about Molly end there. She desperately wanted to ask Steve what had happened, why his trip took longer than expected, why she hadn't heard from him—"You look nice…" Steve broke her out of her thoughts, his eyes scanning her outfit. It was a simple dress, like one she would wear to work, with a cardigan over it. "Did you have a tour this morning?"

It wasn't uncommon for her to give tours at work on Sunday afternoons, but her Sundays morning already had a standing appointment. "No, I go to mass on Sundays." Mina said. This wasn't a fact she had shared about herself with Steve yet; in fact, not many people knew it about her.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I go to St. Patrick's…the one here in Brooklyn not the one in Manhattan—"

"Wait, wait, wait—" Steve dropped her hands and sat up straighter, turning to face her more. "You go to mass every Sunday at Roman Catholic Church of St. Patrick…over on Fourth Avenue?" Mina nodded her head slowly…how did Steve know this church? She knew he had been baptized Catholic but they had never discussed religion beyond that. "That's the church I was baptized in…I went there as a kid—"

"You're freaking kidding me—"

"Yeah, Father Heffernan baptized me…of course after my mom died I stopped really going to mass…" Steve let his sentence trail off, seemingly becoming lost in memories. It was a common occurrence that Mina had grown used to. After a moment, she reached a hand up, gently cupping the side of his face to bring him back to the present. Steve shook his head, giving her a small smile. "But yeah…I didn't even know you went—I mean you had mentioned you were baptized—"

"I'm not saying I'm a hard-line Catholic or anything…" Mina shrugged a shoulder. "I just like going for the routine. How no matter where I'm at, it's the same mass being said all over the world. And it's—basically—the same prayers and everything I've said since I was a kid."

Steve stared at her, his expression unreadable. After a moment, Steve smiled at her. "I like that." He leaned forward, sharing a quick kiss. "Maybe I'll come with you some time."

"Okay." Mina whispered before leaning in for another kiss. The kiss was more thorough this time, Steve wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling Mina flush against him. When they broke apart, Mina rested her forehead against Steve's. "Steve…we need to talk about these past couple of weeks…" Steve let out a sigh as his arms fell to rest his hands on her hips. "Look, I'm not mad or anything like that…but I was worried. I just…I was just worried." And that was the truth. If Mina had felt any anger it was fleeting and was quickly replaced with worry.

"It was my fault." Steve said. Mina's eyes widened a fraction before confusion settled in. "I—I jumped out too early on this. I should've waited, gotten better intel. Before Sam and I could get out, we got pinned down by some rouge HYDRA agents. They were just as surprised to find us as we were them. Our communications were compromised…that's why I couldn't let you know what was going on."

"Is Sam okay?" Mina asked. Steve nodded his head. "Okay. I just…like I said, I was worried—a lot. A lot more than I thought I would be. Especially after you stopped calling."

"I'm sorry." Steve said quietly. He reached up, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. "I want to promise that something like this won't happen again but…"

"I know." Mina said. She let out a sigh as she wrapped an arm around him and then leaned into him, resting her head against his chest. His arms wrapped around her again, hugging her to him tighter. They stayed like that, Mina listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat through his shirt. Every now and then, Steve dropped a kiss onto the top of her head as one of his hands ran soothingly over her hip.

After laying like that for a while, Steve let out a deep breath, leaning back to look at Mina. "Do you want to get some supper?"

Mina sat up, running a hand through her hair. "I actually don't have much of an appetite." Steve asked her why. She could see the look that crossed his face, wondering if it was because of the last two weeks. "It's not because of you or anything…it just started a few days ago." She purposely left out the part about how she was unable to keep any real solid food down, how she had actually dropped five pounds over the last few days, and how her stomach hurt all the time especially after she tried to eat. Steve was already starting to look more worried. "And don't worry…I've already called my brother—he's convinced it is stress related. I promise you it's not though because he should know as well as I do when I get stressed I actually eat more. So, I told him I would go to the doctor sometime this week if it doesn't resolve."

"When was the last time you ate?" Steve said; his tone was accusatory.

"I had a bagel this morning…" She told him. "I can handle some food…plain bread, some greens, and broth…" Steve continued to stare at her, silently telling her he was not happy. "Do not look at me like that Steven Grant…I've got it under control…okay?"

"Fine…" He told her even though she could tell it was totally not fine. "If you need me to go with you to the doctors or anything—"

"I will let you know." Mina leaned forward, pecking him on the cheek.

* * *

"Oh, thank god…" Mina said as she entered the office. Anna had left the small kitchen as Mina had let out the exclamation, arching an eyebrow at her co-worker. "Louise isn't here…I am not in the mood to deal with her…"

"You look like shit." Anna bluntly told her. Mina just scoffed at her as she headed back to her office. Usually she would immediately head for the kitchen herself, for a cup of coffee, but the thought of ingesting _anything_ made her stomach roll and clench even more painfully. "Seriously Mina—you should head home—"

"I cannot leave you here by yourself." Mina said as Anna followed her into her office.

"Susan and Marla are coming in to volunteer today…I wouldn't be by myself." Anna explained. "Seriously Mina…you do not look good. I know you haven't felt good all week…"

When Mina had woken up on Monday morning, she felt even worse than she had the previous day. Steve had text her to ask how she was feeling, and naturally she lied, telling him she felt the same has when he had seen her the day before. As the week went on though, she steadily started feeling worse and her appetite was all but gone. Now on Wednesday, even she could see the weight loss and how pale she looked in the mirror that morning. "I just…" Mina sank down into her chair, letting out a sigh. "I just hate going to the doctor. You know I eat healthy…do my yoga…if I go then I know this is going to be something bad."

"Well then, you should call your brother at least." Anna said, her tone more gentle now. "See what he says…"

Mina nodded her head. Anna gave her a thumbs-up and a small smile before leaving the room, shutting the door behind her. After dialing his number on her work phone, Mina laid her down on her desk—the phone on speaker—as it rang. "How is my favorite sister?" David boomed when the call connected.

"I'm your only sister dork." She replied back. David answered by laughing and asking how she was. "Bad—like very, very bad."

"What's going on?" His voice had taken on a more serious tone now. Mina ran through her symptoms that were basically the same as when she had last talked to him, only more severe now. "Okay, I think I know what may be going on now—I'm such an idiot for not catching it sooner—"

"Do not beat yourself up over this." Mina said as she sat up straight. "But what do you think it is?"

"I'm gonna call a guy I went to med school with—he's a general surgeon over at Columbia—let me call him, see if he can get you in to see you today." David said. "Hey…do not freak out about this, okay? I know you—so just stay calm okay?" Mina let out a sigh as she told him okay. Around fifteen minutes later, David called her back. "Okay, Donall said you could come in today…" David relayed the information to her, telling her where his office was. "He said to just come over now—but I don't want you taking yourself…"

"Yeah," Mina agreed with him. She felt super weak and knew she wouldn't be able to survive a trip across town on her own. "I'll call Steve."

"Good idea. Keep me updated…okay?" David and her exchanged farewells before hanging up.

Grabbing her cell, Mina sent a text to Steve, recapping the phone call with David and requesting him to come meet her at the office to take her over to the hospital. Steve agreed, telling her he would be there as soon as possible. Putting her phone down, Mina yelled for Anna to come in her office. "Okay…so I am going to the doctor today." She told her once she entered the office.

"You aren't going—"

"No, I'm not going by myself." Mina undid the button on her blazer, hoping for some relief from her bloated feeling stomach. "My—um, my boyfriend is coming to get me. And look—Anna, when he gets here, please do not say anything. I will explain once I'm feeling better but today…I just can't. Okay?"

Anna nodded her head, but didn't say anything despite the confused look on her face. Mina hadn't gotten around to telling her who she was dating yet. They were pretty close friends, so she knew she was dating someone…just not who. The two went over what needed to be done for the rest of the week, in the event that Mina did not come back to work. About twenty minutes later, the bells above the front door chime. Anna started to stand to see who it was, but ran into Steve at the door. "Oh holy shi—" She stopped herself from completing the expletive, stepping back and looking between the two people. Steve gave her a confused glance before looking to Mina with the same confusion. "Okay…right…I said that I wouldn't say anything. So…just—yeah, let me know what's happening, okay?"

Mina nodded her head, telling her that she would as Steve stepped out of the way so that Anna could leave the office. "Mina…" Steve let out as soon as he had gotten a good look at her. She could see the worry etched all over his face.

"Do not start lecturing me, just…" As she stood, a wave of nausea rolled over her. Her fists clenched, she rested them on her desk as she stayed still, riding out the pain. Once it was gone, she noticed Steve was at her side, a hand on the small of her back. "Okay…that's new. Let's just go."

The two made their way out of the office and out to the street. Mina was almost overcome with joy when Steve started to lead her to a Range Rover. He told her that Tony Stark had lent it to him, with the caveat that Mina did not "hurl it in". Mina just rolled her eyes as Steve shut her door. Half an hour later they were parked and making their way into the hospital to Dr. Donall Marlowe's office. Mina gave the nurse at the front desk her name, expecting to have to wait a while since it was so last minute. To both her and Steve's surprise, they were shown right back. The nurse in the room took her vitals, asking her basic medical history (basically none, except some back issues stemming from a car accident when she was sixteen), and then taking down what her symptoms had been. A few minutes after she left, Dr. Marlowe came in. "Mina…it's so nice to finally meet you." The man reached out his hand to Mina, shaking it a couple times. "Dave told me a lot about you…both while we were in med school and just a little while ago on the phone."

"Definitely wish we could've met under different circumstances." Mina said, trying to give him a smile…but she was just too damn tired.

Donall just nodded his head, as if he understood. He then turned to Steve, holding out a hand like he did to Mina. "And this must be the boyfriend…Steve?" Mina couldn't tell if the doctor truly didn't recognize Steve or if he was being polite.

"Yes sir." Steve shook his hand a couple of times. "Thank you for fitting Mina in like this."

"Not a problem…not a problem at all…" Donall said, shaking his head. "Sounds like you should've came in sooner though." He gave her a chastising look before bringing up the tablet he had been holding by his side. "Now…from what I'm hearing, I think it may be your gallbladder. David said you've never had it taken out?" Mina shook her head slowly as the dread creeped up in her. She absolutely did not want to have surgery. "Okay, so before I go cutting on you though, I want to run a couple of test."

He tells her the tests, ultrasound, blood work, CT scan, and a test to see how high her gallbladder was functioning. Normally the last one would have to be done on a different day, but since she had eaten since yesterday morning (Steve didn't look too pleased when she told Donall that) they would be able to do it that day. A transporter came in to take her by wheelchair to a different part of the hospital to run the tests. Steve went with them, staying by her side or in the waiting room when he wasn't allowed in the back. He also played message relater, keeping David (who was keeping their parents up to date) and Molly updated. Even though Mina could tell that he was nervous for her, he was a calm that she needed. This was not part of her plan; she didn't handle unexpected changes as well as she should. During the HIDA scan he was allowed to sit beside the imaging table. Mina teased him that the tech was just too afraid to tell him no. Hours later when they re-entered Dr. Marlowe's office, the nurse showed them right back again. Before they could even make it to a room though, Donall stopped them. "I've already gotten the results back from all your test—I know it's not what you want to hear but I need to get you into surgery…now—"

"Wait, what?"

"The HIDA scan showed your gallbladder is functioning at zero percent and from the ultrasound it looks like it is inflamed as well." As he explained everything, a nurse had appeared behind them with a wheelchair. Mina sat in it numbly, reaching out for Steve's hand. He grabbed on to it, holding it tightly. She hadn't looked at him yet, but she could only imagine he was wearing the same shocked look as her. "The blood work has me concerned that it's been inflamed too long and turned necrotic…hence we need to do the surgery now—"

"Woah, woah, woah, no—" Mina shook her head resolutely. "I want to talk to David first; see what—"

"You can talk to him on the way to pre-op—but we need to go now." Donall said in a calm tone, but also in a tone that this wasn't up for debate. Mina could feel herself starting to hyperventilate, but she felt like she was floating outside of her body. It had been a long time since she had a panic attack and this one was hitting like a freaking wrecking ball. She vaguely heard Donall ask the nurse to get him two of Ativan, to calm her down. "Hey, hey, Mina…everything is going to be fine—"

"Mina…you're going to be okay…" Steve was chiming in now, his hand on her back, rubbing reassuring circles between her shoulder blades. Her mind was at war with itself; she knew she needed this surgery, that Donall was perfectly capable of performing it, and that everything would be fine. The other half of her mind was freaking the hell out though; she didn't _need_ surgery, she was perfectly healthy…this was just a stomach ache that would go away in a couple days…it was no big deal. Her boyfriend had literally just exposed a secret organization within another secret organization and fell hundreds of feet into the Potomac…she was _fine._ She kept trying to tell all of them this, the nurse Debbie, Steve, Donall, the transporters that came to take her down to pre-op, but it wasn't coming out right. The Ativan had kicked in and she felt subdued.

The tears continued down her face after a different nurse in pre-op had helped her change into a gown and had let Steve back by her side. "I'm _fine_ Steve…just take me home…I'll be fine…" she had softly said to him once the curtain around her bed had been pulled shut. She was hooked up to a heart monitor, an I.V. drip, and had oxygen in her nose now. Steve just gave her a tight smile before leaning down and pressing a kiss to her forehead. He didn't say anything, just gently kept ahold of her hand. The nurse came in a few minutes later again, this time with more nurses in surgical garb, telling her that Donall and the anesthesiologist was ready for them in the operating room. She gave Mina another dose of medicine, this one to actually put her to sleep, before they gathered the heart monitor and oxygen tank.

As they readied her for transport, she was fighting to keep conscious. She was a control freak; if it was up to Mina she would be awake for the whole surgery just so she could know what was going on. Vaguely aware of the feeling of Steve pressing his lips to hers, she tightened her grip (as much as she could) on his hand. He leaned down and whispered something in her ear, but was unable to register what it was he was saying. Fighting to keep her eyes open still, she tried her best to slur out an ' _I love you'_ …but wasn't sure if she actually said it before the nurses where wheeling her down the hall.


End file.
